JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The Lincoln softball team opened its 2020 campaign in victorious fashion on Sunday (Feb. 16), sweeping a home double-header over Stephens. LU won the first game, 11-0, and took the second, 9-1, with both contests ending in five innings.
 
The offense started early in game one, with Lincoln scoring seven runs on seven hits, including two by Ashton Stalling. The Blue Tigers hit four doubles in their first offensive frame of the season, with Kendra Holt bringing in a pair of runs with a two-base hit in her LU debut. Jordan Lawson, Alex Miller, Tressa Hughes, Jordan Hollon and Stalling also drove in runs to give Lincoln a big early cushion.
 
After a three-up, three-down frame by the Stars, Lawson led LU off with a single in the second, eventually scoring on a base hit by Mykenzie Livesay. Lincoln's other runs came in the fourth, starting with Hannah Clark hitting a double to bring in Miller. Following a pitching change, Payton Mooney scored on a single from Hollon, while Clark came home on a double by Payton Good.
 
Clark got the win in the circle while combining with Hughes and Shannon Greene to allow just one hit in the win. Hughes and Clark each pitched two innings, and both players struck out two Stephens batters. Paige Parker led the defense with six putouts and Hollon and Holt each had three. Mooney and Greene each turned assists.
 
Lincoln's hot hitting continued in the first frame of game two, starting with a double by Lawson. Holt picked up her third RBI of the day, driving in Lawson on a single, and Miller hit LU's first triple of the season to put the Blue Tigers up by two. The lead grew to 3-0 on the next at-bat, as Livesay lined one into centerfield to plate Miller.
 
Stephens scored its only run of the day in the top of the second, but Lincoln got it back in the third, as Emily Williams hit a lead-off double before scoring on an error. Bekah Kirker and Hollon hit the first two homeruns of 2020 for LU in the fourth, and Holt hit another two-RBI double to put the Blue Tigers ahead, 8-1.
 
After turning a double play in the top of the fifth to keep the Stars off the board, Lincoln ended the game in the bottom of the frame when Livesay led off with a base hit and advanced to second on a throwing error before scoring on a single by Kirker. Miller earned the win, allowing just three hits while notching four strikeouts.
 
Holt, who finished the day with five RBI, led LU defensively with eight putouts in game two. Livesay turned three assists and Hollon finished with two.
 
Lincoln is scheduled to play a rematch with Stephens on Monday (Feb. 17) in Columbia, Mo. with first pitch of the double-header slated for 12:00 p.m. CST.