ST. CHARLES, Mo. - The Lincoln softball team dropped a pair of hard-fought road games to Lindenwood on Monday afternoon (March 2). In the opener, the Blue Tigers tallied nine hits, including a homerun, but fell by a final score of 7-5. In the night cap, Lindenwood pulled away late for a 10-1 victory.

The Blue Tiger offense got going early in the first game, with Ashton Stalling leading the contest off with a single through the left side. Kendra Holt later plated Stalling with a double, giving Lincoln the early 1-0 lead. Lindenwood would answer in the bottom half of the frame, scoring on an RBI single after opening the inning with a lead-off double.

The Lions took the lead with another run in the bottom of the second, but Lincoln came back in the third to score three more runs for a 4-2 advantage. Alex Miller brought home Holt and Emily Williams with a single through the middle, and later scored herself when Jordan Hollon was issued a bases-loaded walk.

Lindenwood took advantage of four hits and a Lincoln error to score three runs of its own in the bottom of the third, and the Lions' one-run lead would remain until the sixth, when a homer and an RBI double increased the lead to 7-4. The Blue Tigers got one of those runs back when Miller hit one out of the park to open the seventh, but the Lions held on for the win.

Williams and Miller each had three hits while Holt and Bekah Kirker had one apiece. Holt led the defense with nine putouts, and Hollon turned four assists while Kirker and Tressa Hughes each tallied two.

In the second game, Lindenwood (9-4) struck first with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second, but Lincoln (4-6) cut the deficit in half when a sacrifice fly by Holt brought in Payton Mooney in the top of the third. An infield hit allowed Mooney to reach base, and back-to-back singles by Stalling and Williams moved her to third.

The Lions got back on the board in the bottom of the third with four more runs, including two on a homer, and Lindenwood used another four-run inning in the fifth to hold on for the win. Williams had two hits to lead Lincoln offensively. Holt had a team-high four putouts, and Mooney, Stalling and Williams each had two. Hollon and Mykenzie Livesay each turned two assists.

Lincoln will return home on Wednesday (March 6) to host William Jewell in a 1:00 p.m. CST double-header.