JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - The Lincoln softball team finished with more hits, but Fort Hays State managed to escape with a pair of victories in two close games at LU Softball Field on Friday (March 22). LU out-hit FHSU in the first game, 6-5, but fell by a final score of 4-2. In the second contest, Lincoln had the tying run on second before FHSU prevailed, 7-6.

The difference in the first game was the opening inning, as a two-out double cleared the bases to put Fort Hays State ahead, 3-0. Lincoln got on the board in the second inning, as Rachael Balke led off with a double before scoring on a single through the middle by Emily Williams.

FHSU scored an unearned run in the fourth, but a solo homerun in the sixth by Camryn Pryor pulled LU to within 4-2. Pryor had a pair of hits in Friday's first game while Mykenzie Livesay and Tori Nienhueser had one apiece.

Hannah Hennessy struck out five FHSU batters while Pryor and Williams were each credited with five putouts. Livesay and Hennessy both had two assists.

Lincoln struck first in the second game, as Bekah Kirker opened the contest with a walk and Jordan Lawson followed with a single. Gabi McGinty drove both players home on a base hit for a 2-0 LU lead.

A sacrifice fly pulled FHSU to within one, but Lincoln loaded the bags in the bottom of the second before a double by Lawson brought home Williams and Paige Parker. That gave the Blue Tigers a 4-1 advantage, but Fort Hays State tied the game in the third with three runs of its own off a double.

Balke led the bottom of the third off with a base hit, then gave Lincoln a 5-4 lead by scoring on a Nienhueser single. That's how the score would stand until the fifth inning, when a two-run homer gave Fort Hays State its first lead of the ballgame.

Each team scored a run in the sixth, with a Pryor single plating Lawson from second base. After Kirker leaped in the air to catch a fly ball in the seventh, she tossed it to Pryor at first for a double play to bring Lincoln up in the seventh down one.

McGinty opened the final frame with a base hit, then Hennessy entered as a pinch runner. Hennessy stole second, but FHSU managed to force three outs to escape with the 7-6 win.

Lawson went 3-for-3 at the plate, and Pryor and McGinty each had two hits while the Blue Tigers as a team finished with 12 in the game. Shannon Greene recorded two strikeouts in the circle and Pryor and Balke tied for the team-lead with four putouts apiece. Kirker and Nienhueser each had a pair of assists.

Lincoln will be back at LU Softball Field on Saturday (March 23) to host Nebraska Kearney in a 12:00 p.m. CDT double-header.