PORTSMOUTH – Taking on the nation's No. 12 team in Lindsey Wilson, softball held a lead in both Mid-South games on Saturday afternoon but it was not until a crazy walk-off finish in the 10th inning of game two that allowed the Bears to salvage a split of the contests. The Bears (12-10, 6-4 MSC) dropped the opening game of the day 4-1 after leading 1-0 after four innings.
SSU would rebound in a marathon game two as Ericka Leighty hit a walk-off single with two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning with runners on first and third after the Blue Raiders (29-5, 13-3 MSC) defense threw the ball around the infield and allowed the winning run to score.
Shawnee State and Lindsey Wilson sent Ali Thompson and Jordan Hood to the circle for their respective teams and both were solid from the start. Thompson retired six of the first seven hitters she faced with a walk in the second being the only batter to reach. She would then work around a double and walk to start the third to strand those two runners before retiring the side in order in the fourth.
However, Hood was just a strong as she allowed just three walks over the first three innings. Holly Brabson doubled to lead off the fourth for SSU and gave the Bears their first hit of the afternoon. The Blue Raiders got the next two hitters but Brytan Givens would come through with the two-out RBI single to give the Bears a 1-0 lead after four innings.
After conceding just one hit over the first four innings, Lindsey Wilson got a leadoff single and bunt single with one out before a three-run home run gave the Blue Raiders their first runs and lead of the game. Three more singles in the sixth inning would add another run onto the final score and give the Blue Raiders a 4-1 win in the opener.
In that opening game, Thompson went the full seven innings and allowed nine hits while striking out six. Hood took the win in the opener as the Bears only two hits came off the bats of Brabson and Givens during the fourth. She also struck out 11 batters while walking four.
Both sides were able to score in their respective first innings during the second game as Lindsey Wilson opened the scoring with an unearned run in the first inning while a Leighty double followed by singles from Kirsti Yates and Brabson tied the game at one after the first inning. After an unearned run in the first, SSU starter Allie Chapman would set down six of the next seven hitters she faced.
The Bears would take their first lead of the second game in the third. Katy Bender and Yates singled to start that inning but after two fly outs, it would take a two-out RBI single by Hannah Dittoe to score the second run of the game. However, the Blue Raiders answered right back in the fourth with three straight two-out singles to tie the game at two-all after four.
The score would stay that way until the bottom of the sixth. Kelsey Jenkins got that inning started with a one-out double. The Blue Raiders would get the next batter but Leighty would crush the first pitch she saw over the left field fence for her first home run of the season and seventh of her career. This gave the Bears a 4-2 lead heading to the seventh.
Once again, the Blue Raiders would answer. They put the first two runners on base with a leadoff single and help of an error. A one-out single would score the first run of the inning while a sacrifice fly in what should have been the third out of the inning allowed an unearned run to tie the game.
Neither side was able to mount anything substantial in the eighth or ninth innings. Using the international tiebreak rule at the start of the 10th inning. Lindsey Wilson used a fly to right and a sacrifice fly to center to score a run in the top half of the inning.
The Bears popped up a bunt to start the bottom of the 10th but the Blue Raiders first error of the day put runners on first and third with one out. However, an infield pop up to short would put two down.
With runners on the corners, Leighty singled into right field, scoring Dittoe who started the inning as the runner on second. Jenkins, who reached on the error earlier in the inning went first to third and drew the throw to the bag. With the throw to third, Leighty went for second and drew another throw from the defense. This allowed an alert Jenkins to score the game-winning run on the play during the walk-off victory.
Chapman took the win in the second game as she pitched all 10 innings and allowed 11 hits while striking out eight. Only two of the five runs that she allowed were earned run. The loss went to game one's winner Hood, who came on to pitch in the bottom of the seventh through the end of the game after a complete game effort in the opener.
Softball will be back at Boone Coleman Field tomorrow. That doubleheader will be another Mid-South completion as the Bears welcome UVA-Wise to town for a 2 p.m. start.
