BOLIVAR, Mo. - The Lincoln softball team got its third sweep of the season as the Blue Tigers won a pair of games against Southwest Baptist on the road on Wednesday (Feb. 28). The Blue Tigers took the first game in extra innings, 8-6, before cruising to a 6-1 victory in the night cap.
Mallorey Rogers pitched the first 5.1 innings of the opener and struck out six Bearcat batters, but the two teams combined for 25 hits as the contest changed from a pitcher's duel to a shootout. The first three innings of the game were scoreless before LU broke through in the fourth on a solo home run by
Abbi Conrad.
Gabby Newman scored on a base hit by
Taylor Heimbaugh in the fifth to make it a 2-0 lead for the Blue Tigers, but SBU hit a homer of its own in the bottom of the frame to pull within one.
Southwest Baptist (5-9) got its bats going in the sixth inning, plating four runs on five hits to take a 5-2 advantage into the seventh. Heimbaugh's second RBI of the day started the rally for Lincoln (6-6), as
Vanessa Cardenas scored to bring LU back within two. Both Heimbaugh and
Jamilyn Bagby came home later in the frame, and Lincoln caught the Bearcats' potential winning runner stealing to send the game into extras.
Torri Hinnah hit a double to open the eighth and drive in
Mackenzie Graham, but Southwest Baptist used an RBI single to tie the game. SBU ended up loading the bases, but
Abby Pulliam, the winner in the circle, got the next batter to ground out to first base, forcing a ninth inning. Conrad drove in what proved to be the game-winning run on an infield single and then later scored herself on a ground out by Graham. Three ground outs by the Bearcats in the bottom half of the frame allowed Lincoln to seal the victory.
Conrad, Graham, Bagby, Heimbaugh and
Maris Ollison all had two hits in Wednesday's first game while Hinnah and Newman had one apiece. Hinnah led LU defensively with nine putouts while Bagby had six. Newman turned a team-high six assists.
While the opener was a tight race from start to finish, the Blue Tigers controlled the second game, beginning with a three-run second inning. Newman was issued a walk and later scored on an SBU error.
Emily Thompson reached the plate after
Lindsey Brandt hit a triple, and Brandt later scored on a ground out by Heimbaugh. LU held onto the 3-0 lead until the fourth inning, when the Blue Tigers increased their advantage to four on a Brandt single that scored Cardenas. Ollison hit a two-run homer in the fifth to complete the scoring for Lincoln.
Southwest Baptist scored its only run of the contest on a two-out single in the bottom of the seventh as
Paige Rademann allowed just four hits in the complete-game victory. Brandt finished with two hits while Ollison, Conrad, Newman and Thompson had one apiece. On defense, Cardenas tallied nine putouts while Ollison and Newman each had three assists.
Lincoln returns home to face Christian Brothers next Tuesday (March 5) at LU Softball Field. First pitch of the double-header is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. CST.
