Photo Gallery: Senior Day 2019
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - The Lincoln softball team collected 15 hits, but Pittsburg State handed the Blue Tigers a pair of losses on Saturday (April 6). LU fell in the first game, 10-0, and dropped the second, 8-4.

In the second contest of the afternoon, Pittsburg State took a 3-0 lead in the top of the second, but the Blue Tigers battled back to cut the PSU lead down to two when Paige Parker drove in Tori Nienhueser on a base hit into right field. After forcing a three-up, three-down defensive inning, Lincoln went back to work in the third, as Nienhueser hit her second double of the game to bring in Rachael Balke and Camryn Pryor, tying the game at three.

The Gorillas broke the tie with three more runs in the fourth, and the score would stay 6-3 until the sixth inning, when a triple by Jordan Lawson brought in Trista Heavin. The Gorillas added a pair of insurance runs in the seventh inning, however, and held on for the 8-4 win.

Pryor, Balke and Gabi McGinty each joined Nienhueser with two hits in Saturday's second game, while Heavin, Lawson and Emily Williams each had one. Shannon Greene had a strikeout in the circle, and Mykenzie Livesay posted six putouts, while Pryor added five and Balke was responsible for four. Nienhueser finished with three assists, and Bekah Kirker contributed two.

Pittsburg State (18-21, 6-8 MIAA) led the opener from start to finish, as the Gorillas plated two runs in the first inning before scoring four apiece in the third and fourth frames. Lincoln (4-33, 1-18 MIAA) had a chance to score in the bottom of the second, as Livesay, Williams and Nienhueser each had hits in the inning, but Pittsburg State turned a double play to keep LU off the board.

Lawson led the Lincoln defense with five putouts, and Pryor finished with four while Kirker and Nienhueser each turned two assists. In the two games combined, Nienhueser had three doubles, and Heavin saw her first work inside the circle, as she pitched four innings and had a strikeout while allowing just three hits and one earned run.

Saturday was Senior Day for the Blue Tigers, and a special ceremony was held following the double-header to commemorate Balke and Nienhueser. Photos from that ceremony are available using the link at the top of this page.

The Blue Tigers will next travel to Kirksville, Mo. on Tuesday (April 9) to play a pair of games against Truman State. First pitch is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. CDT.