COLUMBIA, Ky. - 11th-ranked Lindsey Wilson softball overcame a three-run deficit to knock off (RV) Campbellsville (Ky.) and clinch the Mid-South Conference regular season championship for the ninth time in program history on Friday.
The visiting Tigers raced out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning but were outscored 6-1 through the fourth and held silent the rest of the way.
Kayden Murray picked up her fifth complete-game victory in her last six appearances to finish the regular season atop the league with 23 wins. The junior punched out seven opposing batters on strikes, issued two walks, and allowed four earned runs on seven hits.
Lindsey Wilson immediately got one run back in the bottom of the first frame off an RBI-single by
Natalie Wandrie. Then, in the third inning, the Blue Raider offense caught fire.
Sam Hartman doubled to right field and Wandrie earned a walk to put two runners aboard for
Emerson McKinnis. After watching the first two pitches out of the zone, McKinnis locked in and clubbed her team-leading eighth home run to the trees in center field.
Following a pitching change, pinch-hitter
Hannah Carter answered McKinnis' shot with a solo blast of her own, extending Lindsey Wilson's lead to 5-3.
Campbellsville managed its fourth run in the next half-inning, but Hartman stole it right back in the bottom of the frame on a one-run goner to left field.
Murray and defense held the Tigers to just two hits across the final three innings.
In the top of the seventh,
Summer Ray came up with back-to-back infield popouts before Murray caught the last looking on strikes.
Lindsey Wilson's victory assures home field advantage for the upcoming Mid-South Conference tournament, which is slated to begin next week. The official release of the postseason bracket is due on Saturday evening.
