CLEVELAND, Tenn. –The Lee University softball team battled to a doubleheader split with Lincoln Memorial University on Wednesday afternoon. After earning a win in the first game 6-3, the Lady Flames allowed LMU to score four runs in the top of the seventh to steal game two 9-8. With the split, Lee is now 10-5 on the season and will head to Auburn University Montgomery on Friday for a weekend Gulf South Conference series.
GAME 1
Scoring came at a minimum in game one of the two. The first run didn't come until the fourth inning. LMU got on the board with a run off of an error by Hailey Simco. The Lady Flames then responded in the fourth with two runs. Javaria Smith drove in Simco, and then a triple from Hayden Gardner brought Smith home to give Lee the 2-1 lead.
The Lady Flames tallied three more runs in the fifth. Simco squeezed Alexa Scalzo home with a bunt. Then Ana Macha scored on an error by the shortstop. The final run came on a Smith groundout to score Simco.
LMU scored twice in the sixth using two hits and a sacrifice fly for their second and third runs of the game. Macha drove in Ava Perkins for the final run in the 6-3 win for Lee.
Natalie Pruitt Geesey earned her seventh win of the season. She threw six innings and gave up three runs on six hits and had two strikeouts. Gardner earned the save going one inning,
Simco had two runs scored and one RBI in the win while Smith had two RBI.
GAME 2
LMU struck first once again in the second inning of game two. LMU used four hits and brought home three runs to give them the lead. Lee responded in the bottom of the third. After two quick outs, Rylie Goodridge hit a solo home run to give Lee its first run. Smith then hit a single to get on base. Rylee Price followed that up with a double to score Smith. The very next batter, Perkins, hit a two-run home run to give Lee the 4-3 lead.
LMU retook the lead in the top of the fourth. They used three more hits to score two runs and led 5-4. Lee answered once again in the bottom of the fourth. Goodridge drove in Simco and Kaelin Ault with two outs and Lee led 6-5.
The final two runs of the game for Lee came in the bottom of the fifth as Gardner and Macha each had RBI to score Alyson Jarvi and Gardner respectively.
LMU took the lead for the final time on the top of the seventh. They used five hits and a hit by a pitch to bring in four runs and win the game 9-8.
Layne Bailey got the start for Lee in the circle and went three innings. She gave up five runs on eight hits while striking out three. Madison Barnett threw four innings in relief and took the loss. She gave up four runs on seven hits while striking out six.
Rylee Price was 4-for-4 at the plate. She one run and one RBI. Goodridge had three RBI and a run scored as well. Both teams had 15 hits in the contest
Coach Emily Russell's Thoughts:
"We got a lot of people in the lineup to try to get some at bats. Hayden Gardner and Rylee Price both did really well. We have been talking a lot about pinch hitting and playing the DP spot and that was a great positive to see. We shot ourselves in the foot today but it all things we can clean up. I challenged the team after that no one is giving us runs so we need to have the standard of not giving up extra bases or runs."
