COLUMBIA, Ky. - Fresh off of garnering a No. 2 ranking in the latest NAIA Coaches' Poll, the Lindsey Wilson softball team turned in back-to-back shutouts of (RV) Indiana University Southeast at Marilyn D. Sparks Park on Wednesday afternoon.

Annabelle Ramirez acted as the catalyst for the Blue Raiders, earning career wins No. 50 and 51 behind one complete-game effort and an appearance in relief.

Game 1

Lindsey Wilson 7 | Indiana Southeast 0

Coming off her first career no-hitter on Tuesday against Cumberland (Tenn.), Ramirez was tabbed to start in the circle for the Blue Raiders, picking up right where she left off verses the Grenadiers.

The senior ace fired three perfect innings to open the contest, setting up her offense to do a little damage of their own.

In the bottom leg of the third, Sam Sims led off with a second-pitch single to shallow center. After the leadoff batter secured second base on a steal, Desiree Chang followed up with a short dribbler that was misplayed by the Indiana Southeast infield.

Then, Makea-Al Kaluau fended off a pair of foul balls before dropping a single into left to load the bases for Brianna Griffiths.

The Blue Raiders' shortstop managed to accumulate enough pitches out of the zone to result in a walk, bringing home Sims for the game's first run.

The following at-bat, Alexis Garayzar connected on a 1-2 pitch and sent it into the gap in left, allowing Chang and Kaluau to be plated.

After a scoreless fourth, the home side tallied an additional run in the fifth, again off the bat of Garayzar to push Lindsey Wilson ahead 4-0.

The Blue Raiders nearly ended game one early in the sixth, chipping in another three-piece.

This time, the scoring opened on a Kaluau at-bat which lasted 18 pitches before she was ultimately hit by a pitch to score Sims from third.

Then, Alexus Garza needed only two pitches to rip a grounder to the short side, only to be mishandled by the Grenadiers, giving Marquez an open lane to the plate.

Griffiths would register a sacrifice fly later in the inning to bring the score to its final form, at 7-0, but now the attention quickly turned back to Ramirez, who was working on another hitless performance entering the seventh.

Despite surrendering a leadoff double, Ramirez buckled down and retired the next three batters on strikes to give her a game total of 12, her eighth double-digit strikeout effort of the season.

Game 2

Lindsey Wilson 1 | Indiana Southeast 0

The second edition of the day's doubleheader got off to a similar start. Both starting pitchers were dealing out of the circle with the first hit of the game not coming until the bottom of the second frame.

Hannah Epperson got the nod to start game two for the Blue Raiders, working through five complete innings and striking out five while allowing zero runs.

As for Indiana Southeast, Hannah Ogg returned to the circle after collecting the loss from the first game. She wound up going the complete game while retiring six on strikes and walking only two. However, it was one earned run that would prove to be the difference-maker.

Knotted up at 0-0 heading into the bottom of the sixth, Lindsey Wilson was on the edge of entering their sixth extra-innings game of the 2021 campaign, but Garza had other plans.

On the first pitch of the inning, the sophomore launched her sixth home run of the season over the left-center field fence to give her team a 1-0 advantage.

With the lead now in the control of the Blue Raiders, reliever Ramirez stepped in line for the win, and almost fittingly, she posted two strikeouts in the top half of the seventh, including the game-sealing 'K.'

Today's result marks Ramirez's (16-0) fourth victory in as many appearances. She allowed only three hits and zero runs over 17.1 innings pitched during that span.

At the plate, Garayzar finished the day going 4-for-7 en route to three RBIs. Sims contributed three hits over the doubleheader, while Griffiths added two RBIs.

Lindsey Wilson (26-0, 18-0 MSC) will get a well-deserved breather before returning to Sparks Park on Monday, March 29 to complete their conference series with Cumberland (Tenn.).