SAN ANTONIO, Texas - Lindenwood softball (1-1) split their first two games of the 2024 season at the UIW Kickoff Classic hosted on the campus of Incarnate Word. The Lions opened up with a 3-0 win over Prairie View A&M before falling to UIW by a score of 2-0.

"I thought our pitching was great in both games today," said head coach Erin Brown. "We had some timely hits in game one but couldn't put anything together in game two. They got a bloop hit with two outs to score in the bottom of the sixth. It's frustrating, but part of the game."

GAME ONE
Lindenwood - 3
Prairie View A&M - 0

Amanda Weyh powered the Lions to a win on the mound to start the season posting 10 strikeouts in a 3-0 win over Prairie A&M. Weyh pitch in 6.2 innings allowing just one hit over 26 batters faced. 

Lindenwood's offense was led by Mya Bethany with two hits and a run scored. The Lions posted a total of seven hits on the day including two doubles, one from Madisen Noll and Morgan Gersch.

A quiet start to the day for both teams as their was a combined two hits in the first three innings, both by the Lions. Lindenwood had back-to-back singles by Bethany and Weyh to start the fourth to get the ball rolling.

Chloe Honcar brought in the first RBI of the season after that with a single to center field that brought home Bethany from second. Noll then hit a double in the gap to score two more runs to give LU a 3-0 lead.

Weyh shut-down the Panthers from there on locking up the Lions' first win of the season. The winning pitcher allowed just a .043 batting average to Prairie View on Friday.

GAME TWO
Lindenwood - 0
Prairie View A&M - 2

Lindenwood fell in their second game on Friday to Incarnate Word by a final score of 2-0. The Lions posted just four hits in the game while leaving five left on base.

Avery Wapp started her first game of the season against UIW throwing in 5.1 innings allowing three hits and one run while striking out two. Molly Berkey also pitched for the Lions earning the loss allowing one hit and a run.

In a scoreless game heading into the bottom of the sixth inning, Berkey entered on the mound with a runner on first. After getting an out and walking a runner, UIW's Marissa Espinoza popped a single into shallow left field to bring home two runs.

The Lions went down in order in the top of the seventh inning dropping their first game of the season. Four different Lions had a hit against UIW including Bethany with her third in two games played.

Lindenwood will be back in action on Saturday, Feb. 10 for two more games against Prairie View A&M and Incarnate Word starting at 12:!5 p.m. CT. For more information go to lindenwoodlions.com.