The Lindenwood softball team split with Southwest Baptist on Sunday afternoon in Bolivar, Mo. in the team's penultimate doubleheader of the season. Senior
Madi Huot drove in two runs in the win, while
Kimberly Fozzard pitched five innings and earned her eighth victory of the season. Stormee Galka pitched the final two innings for her second save of the season.
Six players recorded hits on the day, with
Maddie Bohr collecting two of her own.
Adele Linderman,
Bethany Fountain,
Lexi Theis, and Galka each had one hit, while Huot had one in each game. Galka's base hit put her season batting average at .337, which now leads the team.
Game One
The Lady Lions scored a pair of runs in the first run to gain the early advantage. Linderman led off the game being hit by a pitch, and Huot reached on an error to put runners on the corners. After Huot stole second base,
Hannah Johnson drove in a run via a groundout. Fountain followed that up with an RBI groundout of her own to bring home Huot.
Theis singled in the second inning and moved to second when
Brooke Tiehes reached on a catcher's interference call with one out, as Linderman drew a walk to load the bases. Huot came through and gave Lindenwood a 4-0 lead with a single through the left side to score Theis and Tiehes.
After scattering two hits in the first three innings, Fozzard allowed a leadoff knock to begin the bottom of the fourth. The freshman induced a pair of fly outs, but SBU slugged a two-run homer to cut the lead in half. Fozzard sent down the side in order in the fifth, but the Bearcats chased her from the game after singling to begin the sixth inning.
Fountain scored in the sixth inning to give Lindenwood an insurance run as Bohr reached on an error. Galka retired six of the eight hitters she faced with the only trouble coming in the bottom of the seventh when she allowed a pair of singles.
Game Two
The Lindenwood offense stalled in the nigthcap, as the SBU offense scored in four different innings en route to the 6-0 victory.
Bohr collected her hits in the second and seventh inning. After her first hit,
Morgan Brown drew a walk, but was caught stealing. Huot's single led off the third inning, but the rest of the offens was shut down. SBU scored a run in the first, and added three more in the third inning on a pair of extra-base hits. The Bearcats scored a run in each of the fifth and sixth innings to increase their lead to the final score, 6-0.
Lindenwood struck out eight times in game two, with at least one punch out in six innings.
The Lady Lions, under first-year head coach
Liz Kelly, conclude their season tomorrow afternoon in Warrensburg, Mo. against Central Missouri. The split with SBU gives Lindenwood a 21-24 record for the season, including a 9-15 mark in the MIAA. The nine wins ties last year's conference win total, and the 21 total victories is the most for the program in a single season since the 2014 season when the team had 22. A sweep of Central Missouri would give Lindenwood its most wins in its NCAA era.
