LIBERTY, Mo. - The Lincoln softball team used the long ball early and often against William Jewell, hitting five homeruns on the afternoon, but the Blue Tigers dropped a pair of games to the Cardinals on Wednesday (March 20). Lincoln led for much of the first contest before falling, 9-5. In the second game, William Jewell held off a Lincoln rally for an 8-5 win.

In the opener, Rachael Balke opened the scoring in the top of the second inning with the first homer of the day for LU, knocking a solo shot over the left field wall. After Gabi McGinty and Emily Williams were issued walks, Tori Nienhueser hit the ball over the left field fence to put Lincoln ahead, 4-0.

Balke hit her second homer of the afternoon in the third inning to put the Blue Tigers ahead by five, but the Cardinals began their comeback in the bottom half of the frame. WJC cut its deficit down to 5-2 on back-to-back doubles, then hit a three-run shot of its own to tie the game entering the fourth inning.

Nienhueser led the next frame off with a base hit, and ended up advancing to third on a sacrifice bunt from Paige Parker, but the Cardinals kept LU off the scoreboard. William Jewell later took the lead in the bottom of the fifth, scoring two runs on three hits to go ahead, 7-5. The Cardinals would later add two more runs in the sixth for the four-run win.

Balke went 3-for-4 at the plate and Camryn Pryor also had a hit for LU, while pitchers Hannah Hennessy and Shannon Greene combined to strike out five Cardinal batters. Parker led the Lincoln defense with six putouts and Pryor finished with five while Bekah Kirker had a pair of assists.

Lincoln (4-20) also struck first in the second game, as Kirker led the contest off with a base hit before scoring on a single by Balke. William Jewell (11-7) answered in the bottom half of the first, however, hitting a grand slam for a 4-1 lead.

Williams cut LU's deficit in half with a homerun of her own in the top of the second, but WJC used a sacrifice fly to extend its lead back to three, 5-2, through two innings. The score would stay that way until the fourth inning, when Williams singled into left field before scoring on a double by Parker.

A three-run homer in the bottom of the fourth ended the scoring for William Jewell, but Lincoln's offense still had some fuel left in the tank. Pryor got on base with a single in the top of the seventh, and Balke pulled the Blue Tigers to within three with her third homerun of the day. The Cardinals, though, managed to force an LU ground out to escape with the win.

Lincoln totaled 12 hits in the night cap, including three by Balke and two each by Kirker, Pryor, Williams and Parker. McGinty also had a hit in the day's second game. Greene rang up three more strikeouts inside the circle, and Parker finished with five putouts while Jordan Lawson and Williams each had three. Nienhueser turned five assists.

The Blue Tigers resume MIAA play on Friday (March 22), as Lincoln hosts Fort Hays State at LU Softball Field for a 1:00 p.m. CDT double-header.