BOLIVAR, Mo. - A fantastic performance in the circle by Shannon Greene combined with four players with multiple hits helped the Lincoln softball team defeat Southwest Baptist, 3-2, on Saturday afternoon (April 27). The Blue Tigers ended up splitting their final double-header of 2019, as the Bearcats won Saturday's second game, 10-5.

Greene allowed just one earned run and notched a strikeout as she picked up a victory in her final start of the year. Mykenzie Livesay, Jordan Lawson, Camryn Pryor and Tori Nienhueser each had two hits apiece, with Livesay additionally batting in a pair of runs.

The Bearcats scored an unearned run in the bottom of the first, but the Lincoln defense held SBU off the board through the next four innings while taking the lead for good in the top of the third. Lawson started a two-out rally with a base hit, and a hit batter followed by a walk allowed the Blue Tigers to load the bases. Another walk brought home Lawson, and Livesay drove in Rachael Balke and Pryor with a single down the left field line.

A solo home run in the sixth allowed the Bearcats to pull within one, but Greene retired the final six batters to seal the win for the Blue Tigers. Pryor had eight putouts to lead the defense, and Livesay was next with four while Lawson and Balke finished with three apiece. Nienhueser provided four assists, while Livesay and Bekah Kirker each turned two.

In the second game of the day, Lincoln (6-44, 3-23 MIAA) got off to a hot start, scoring three runs in the opening frame. A bases-loaded walk allowed Balke to score the first run of the contest, and Gabi McGinty plated both Livesay and Emily Williams to make it a 3-0 affair.

Southwest Baptist (8-47, 4-22 MIAA) scored a pair of runs on three hits in the bottom of the first, and the score remained 3-2 until the top of the fourth. Kirker opened the top half of the inning with a base hit, and then took second on a Lawson single. Both players moved into scoring position on a ground out, and both scored on a Williams base hit to give Lincoln back a three-run advantage.

The Bearcats answered with four more runs in the bottom half of the inning, however, and added three more scores in the fifth and another in the sixth to hold on for the win. Lawson and Nienhueser each had two hits for the Blue Tigers, while Pryor and Balke each had one.

Lawson started in the circle and had a strikeout, and Pryor recorded four putouts while Kirker and Balke were next with three apiece. Nienhueser and Kirker each turned two assists.

The 2019 campaign was a record-breaking one for Pryor, who ended the season with 60 hits, shattering the previous Lincoln single-game record of 51, set back in 2009.