Complete Game Notes
Games #19-20: Northeastern State (12-11, 3-1 MIAA) at Lincoln (4-14, 1-3 MIAA)
Date: Saturday, March 16 at 12:00 p.m. & 2:00 p.m. CT
Site: LU Softball Field in Jefferson City, Mo.
Live Stats: https://lubluetigers.com/sidearmstats/softball/
 
Games #21-22: Central Oklahoma (20-1, 4-0 MIAA) at Lincoln
Date: Sunday, March 17 at 12:00 p.m. & 2:00 p.m. CT
Site: LU Softball Field in Jefferson City, Mo.
Live Stats: https://lubluetigers.com/sidearmstats/softball/
 
THE LEAD OFF:  The first home MIAA games of the 2019 season await the Lincoln softball team this weekend as the Blue Tigers host both Northeastern State and Central Oklahoma at LU Softball Field. LU hosts Northeastern State on Saturday (March 16) before Central Oklahoma, currently ranked No. 4 in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association's Division II poll, visits on Sunday, with the double-headers on both days beginning at 12:00 p.m. CDT. Lincoln is 1-3 in MIAA play, but has won three of its last four games, including notching a neutral site win against Emporia State on March 8 before opening its home slate with a sweep of Stephens on Monday (March 11).
 
PREVIEWING THE BLUE TIGERS:  Camryn Pryor, who is hitting .423 with a .446 on-base percentage, is tied with Jordan Lawson, a .393 batter, with a team-high 22 hits, and Pryor and Bekah Kirker have each scored 10 runs. Mykenzie Livesay leads LU with 12 RBI, followed by Rachael Balke, who has 10 RBI on 16 hits, including five doubles. Livesay has 13 hits, Gabi McGinty has tallied 12 and Tori Nienhueser has nine hits, including six doubles. In the circle, Shannon Greene (22 strikeouts) and Hannah Hennessy (25 strikeouts) each have two victories.
 
HEAD COACH CHRISTINE ENGBERS:  Engbers was named the head coach of the Blue Tigers in 2018 after a successful two-year run at Covenant, where she won 45 games and became the first coach to lead the Lady Scots to back-to-back years with winning records. Engbers, in her first season at Lincoln, was an All-American as a player at Covenant.
 
LAST TIME OUT:  Lincoln opened MIAA play with road double-headers against Washburn and Emporia State before opening its home slate with a twinbill vs. Stephens. Below are brief recaps of those contests:
 
Game 13: WU 2, LU 1:  It was a pitchers' duel for the first five innings, but Washburn broke through with two runs in the sixth to earn a victory in the first game of a double-header on Thursday (March 7). Tori Nienhueser scored for Lincoln on a throwing error in the seventh inning. The game was played at Kansas City Kansas Community College due to inclement weather.
 
Game 14: WU 8, LU 0:  Bekah Kirker, Camryn Pryor, Emily Williams and Mykenzie Livesay each had hits, but the Blue Tigers suffered an 8-0 loss to Washburn on Thursday. Hannah Hennessy had a pair of strikeouts in the circle.
 
Game 15: LU 10, ESU 7:  Bekah Kirker and Jordan Lawson led the game off with back-to-back home runs and Lincoln rolled to a 10-7 victory against Emporia State on Friday (March 8). Gabi McGinty joined Rachael Balke and Mykenzie Livesay with three hits apiece, and Shannon Greene gave up just one earned run as LU won its first MIAA game since 2017. The game was played a Andover Central High School due to weather concerns.
 
Game 16: ESU 9, LU 1:  Gabi McGinty hit a solo homerun in the top of the second inning to cut the Lady Hornet lead to 2-1, but Emporia State scored seven runs to end the game in five innings last Friday. Hannah Hennessy started in the circle and allowed zero earned runs while Casey Grover led LU defensively with four putouts.
 
Game 17: LU 8, SC 0:  Shannon Greene pitched Lincoln's first shutout of the season as the Blue Tigers scored eight runs on 11 hits in a victory over Stephens in LU's 2019 home opener this past Monday (March 11). Mykenzie Livesay had four RBI while Bekah Kirker, Gabi McGinty, Tori Nienhueser and Emily Williams all had a pair of hits.
 
Game 18: LU 12, SC 1:  Lincoln used an 11-run second inning to sweep Stephens on Monday afternoon. Hannah Hennessy earned the victory after striking out four Star batters, and Jordan Lawson and Emily Williams each had a pair of hits. Rachael Balke tallied three RBI, and Bekah Kirker, Williams and Mykenzie Livesay scored two runs apiece.
 
SCOUTING THE RIVERHAWKS:  Northeastern State is hitting .289 as a team, with Addie Elbon leading the way with a .400 averages and 28 hits. Madison Boyd (21 hits), Haley Acrey (20) and Jess Schuler (20) are also having strong seasons at the plate, while Sierra Crick and Alyssia Crick have 19 hits apiece. Gail Young has an 8-4 record in the circle while the team has a 4.48 ERA.
 
SCOUTING THE BRONCHOS:  UCO enters the weekend batting .361 as a team and owning an ERA of 2.50, with Sydney McLeod and Bailey McKittrick each owning nine wins in the circle. Eight of Central Oklahoma's starters are batting at least .300, led by JoBi Heath, a .429 batter with 30 hits, including 14 doubles. Hazel Puempel has 29 hits on the year with 28 RBI.
 
PRYOR SUCCESS: Camryn Pryor opened the 2019 season on a hot streak, recording at least one hit in each of the first 10 games of the year. Pryor currently leads the Blue Tigers with 22 hits, and her .423 batting average currently ranks as the eighth-best in NCAA Division II.
 
ON DECK:  Lincoln travels to Liberty, Mo. on Wednesday (March 20) for a 2:00 p.m. CST non-conference twinbill against William Jewell.