The Lady Lions traveled to St. Ann, Mo. on Tuesday evening for a twin bill against Fontbonne. Lindenwood dropped both games, including an extra-inning contest that saw the Griffins walk-off on a bunt to win 9-8.
Game One
Starter Bethany Fountain walked the lead-off hitter in the first inning, but Kourtney Bunselmeyer caught the runner attempting to swipe second. After getting the next out, Fountain worked around a two-out free pass to get out of the inning unscathed. The Griffins began the scoring in the second when Melanie Russo hit a blast to left-center field that hit the top of the fence and slipped over to give the home team a 1-0 lead.
The Lady Lions offense went quiet for the first five innings, as starting Fontbonne pitcher Madi Leonard had only surrendered a walk to Adele Linderman in the second inning before the bats heated up.
Linderman walked again in the fifth, this time leading off the inning. After stealing second with outs, Mallory Eitel worked a seven-pitch at-bat before grounding out and stranding Linderman.
Fontbonne added two more in its half of the fifth after a double and a throwing error gave the Griffins a 3-0 lead.
Brooklyn Sisk recorded the first hit of the day for the Lady Lions to lead off the sixth when she beat out a grounder to shortstop. After Morgan Brown laid down a sacrifice bunt and nobody was covering first, Lindenwood has two on with nobody out. Fountain moved the runners over with a bunt, setting the stage for Faith Koffron, who worked a walk ahead of Alexandra Newcomb. Leonard forced a pair of pop-ups to Newcomb and Linderman to get out of the inning still winning by three.
Three consecutive groundouts by Bunselmeyer, Brooke Tiehes, and Eitel ended the game in a Lady Lions defeat in the first game.
Game Two
The Lady Lions didn't waste time in game two getting on the board. Sisk led off the first with a single and moved to third base when Tippit singled through the right side. Sisk came around to score when Tippit was caught stealing second base, and Lindenwood led 1-0. In the bottom half of the inning, starting pitcher Payton Wilson worked around a pair of walks to keep the Lindenwood lead in check.
Lindenwood added to its lead in the second. Caitlyn Touchette singled through the middle, and then came around to score on a fielder's choice by Wilson and an error by the Griffins. Wilson then scored on a Rebecca Stocker. Fontbonne evened the score at three in the bottom of the second. A pair of walks and another hit by Russo led the bases with nobody out. A fielder's choice and another walk forced Wilson from the circle, and Rebecca Almus came into pitch. Back-to-back wild pitches and a sacrifice fly tied the game after the second.
After each scoring another run in the third, the Lady Lions added three more in the fourth inning. Stocker hit a double to left field, and Shelby Sharpe came in to pinch-run. She advanced to third on a groundout by Taylor Scott, and was knocked in on a Sisk single. Tippit hit another single, scoring Sisk, and then she crossed the plate after a dropped popup off the bat of Touchette.
The Griffins responded in their half of the fourth with four runs of their own. A hit batter and two walks loaded the bases with two outs. Almus forced a groundball back to herself, but a throwing error scored all three baserunners and put Emily Smith on third. Smith crossed the plate the very next hitter when she scored the eighth Fontbonne run of the game.
The Lady Lions loaded the bases after singles by Tippit and Alexis Theis before Wilson walked. Madison Huot popped up to second to end the inning as Lindenwood still trailed 8-7. After Stocker led off the seventh with a walk, Eitel came in to pinch-run for the freshman. Scott singled and an error by Fontbonne brought Eitel all the way around to tie game at eight apiece.
With a runner placed on second in the extra inning, Fontbonne worked a walk and then moved to second and third with nobody out. Smith bunted and a play at the plate ruled the Griffins safe and they were victorious 9-8 in the second game.
Tippit had four hits, while Scott and Sisk both had two.
The pair of losses bring Lindenwood's record to 8-26 on the season. The Lady Lions head to Pittsburg, Kan. for a Saturday doubleheader against Pittsburg State.
