COLUMBIA, Ky. – At Marilyn D. Sparks Park, the Lindsey Wilson softball team battled back from three different deficits but could not make a fourth one stick as the visiting Phoenix of Cumberland University completed the series sweep with a 7-3, nine-inning decision.

The Blue Raiders turned in their third-highest hit total of the season on Friday afternoon, posting 13 from eight separate batters, including two each by Desiree Chang, Za'Kiya Sizemore, Elizabeth Funk, Kelsie Bostock, and Madyson Jones. The Phoenix, however, matched the locals 13 hits and used two big ones in the final inning to ultimately seal the win.

Cumberland scored first to take a 1-0 lead in the top half of the second frame, but Lindsey Wilson was quick to respond in its leg of the third when a routine groundout off the bat of Brooklynn Ott was enough to plate Funk.

From there, the two sides traded scoreless innings and the 1-1 tie was carried all the way into the seventh inning before the Phoenix eventually broke through to take a 2-1 edge.

Faced with their final three outs, the Blue Raiders went to work with a lead-off single by Alexis Garayzar but were swiftly pushed to the brink with back-to-back groundouts. Then, Bostock stepped to the plate and connected on a clutch base-hit to right-center field to plate pinch-runner Natalie Shaw and reknot the game.

The Phoenix continued to apply pressure in the eighth inning and again built themselves a one-run cushion. Lindsey Wilson, though, remained resilient and found the game-tying run off the bat of Funk to send a 3-3 score into the ninth.

Unfortunately, in what proved to be the final frame, Cumberland muscled up the deep shots it had been searching for to restore its lead and move ahead for good, 7-3.

Three different pitchers saw the circle for the Blue Raiders on Friday, including Olivia Franceschi who fired four complete innings and allowed zero runs on two hits.

The softball team is slated to continue its homestretch on Wednesday, April 26 when Indiana University-Purdue University Columbus comes to town.