COLUMBIA, Ky. - There is a permanent ray of sunshine gleaming in right center field at Marilyn D. Sparks Park.
Summer Ray, on a 1-1 pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning, cranked a walk-off, three-run home run to propel No. 10 Lindsey Wilson past Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) in the Mid-South Conference tournament.
The Blue Raiders entered the inning trailing 7-5 but quickly got to work with a first-pitch single by
Emerson McKinnis, then a matching first-pitch base hit from
Aubrey Miller to set up Ray.
The home run was one of five total long balls logged in the extra-inning contest. However, the scoring started off an RBI-single by
Nora Epley in the bottom of the second, giving Lindsey Wilson a 1-0 lead.
Freed-Hardeman answered immediately to tie the game in the top half of the third, and the game remained knotted until the Blue Raiders' turn in the fourth. Ray led off with a double, followed by the second of three hits for
Atavya Fowler to bump Ray to third base. A subsequent wild pitch pushed the lead runner home to restore Lindsey Wilson's edge, 2-1.
In the fifth,
Natalie Wandrie and McKinnis rattled the Lions' starting pitcher with back-to-back solo home runs to improve the score to 4-1.
Freed-Hardeman came up in the seventh inning and went straight to business. Consecutive hits and a walk loaded the bases for Mid-South Player of the Year Myleah Hardy, and she senior delivered to give her side the advantage.
The resilient Blue Raiders fought back in the next half-inning, starting with back-to-back hits by
Hannah Carter and
Marissa Frolich. A sacrifice bunt by Ray moved the runners up, the Fowler grounded out an RBI to plate pinch-runner
Kaylen Newton and tie the game.
After a quiet eighth inning, the Lions snatched a 7-5 lead in the top of the ninth, but it did not last.
Fowler and Carter led six Blue Raiders with multiple hits with three, apiece, and Lindsey Wilson finished with 17 hits.
In the circle,
Kayden Murray went the distance and retired six on strikes while allowing seven earned runs on 13 hits.
Lindsey Wilson advances in the winners bracket to play No. 17 Cumberlands (Ky.) at 4 p.m. CT on Friday, May 1.
