MACOMB, Ill. -  Lindenwood softball (24-16, 12-6 OVC) earns three straight victories this weekend over Western Illinois (14-26, 4-14 OVC) to continue their 10 game win streak and move into second place in the Ohio Valley Conference standings. The Lions' active winning streak is the sixth longest in the country. They also have swept three straight OVC series.

"What a great team effort today," said head coach Erin Brown. "Our kids stayed dialed in and ready the entire day. I'm so proud of them. They found a way to come through when it was tough today. Our pitching was excellent and out defense made some nice plays to get out of a few jams. We had some quality at bats all day to get on base."

GAME 1
Lindenwood - 7
Western Illinois - 1

Lindenwood played the majority of game one on Saturday before it was suspended and finished on Sunday. Amanda Weyh (W, 14-6) tossed her 59th career win against Western breaking the record for career wins at Lindenwood in the process. She threw 5.1 innings allowing one run of three hits while striking out six. Avery Wapp (S, 3) earned the save after throwing the final 2.1 innings allowing no hits and striking out three.

At the plate, Lindenwood posted 12 hits on their way to a game one victory. Four different Lions had at least two hits including Irelynn West and Tori Hatton who also both had an RBI. Ashley Gerber pinch hit in game one and delivered with a bases clearing double.

The Lions struck first in the second inning with two runs. West and Hatton started the inning with two singles. Dallis Darnell, with two outs, brought home the first run after a field error. Mya Bethany added and RBI single to center field to bring the lead to 2-0.

After four straight scoreless inning by the Leathernecks, they broke through in the fifth off of Weyh with an RBI single by Maria Luna. Weyh ended the inning with three straight outs including two strikeouts. The game was delayed in the sixth inning.

When the game resumed play, the Lions struck in the top of the seventh with five runs stretching their lead to 7-1. A West RBI single and a Hatton RBI double brought the first two runs in. With the bases loaded Gerber dropped in a three RBI double to secure the win for the Lions. Wapp shut the door on WIU in the seventh.

GAME 2 (5 inn.)
Lindenwood - 10
Western Illinois - 1

After picking up the game one victory, Lindenwood secured the series with a 10-1 win in five innings over Western Illinois to start Sunday's double header. The Lions scored 10 runs on 11 hits while holding WIU to just four hits in the process.

Avery Wapp (W, 8-7) was the winning pitcher in game two after throwing 4.2 innings allowing one run on four hits while striking out four. Molly Berkey pitched the lat 0.1 innings giving the Lions the victory.

Lindenwood continued their hot bats as they had four Lions with multiple RBI including three from Chloe Honchar and two from Jolie McMinn. Honchar, McMinn, Gerber and Darnell all had two hits in the game two win.

The first inning saw the Lions jump out the gate with four runs on three hits giving them the early lead. West got the action started with a two RBI double into the left center gap bringing home Gerber and Bethany. Madisen Noll then added a two RBI double down the left field line to put the Lions up 4-0.

After surrendering a run in the bottom of the third, Lindenwood bounced back with two more runs in the fourth. Honchar and Gerber went back-to-back RBI singles to increase the lead to 6-1.

Lindenwood then scored four runs in the top of the fifth to complete the game at 10-1. McMinn had a two RBI single to score the first two runs while Honchar added a two RBI triple to finish off the Leathernecks in game two.

GAME 3 (9 inn.)
Lindenwood - 9
Western Illinois - 3

Game three came down to the wire, but the Lions strung together six runs in the ninth inning to secure their 10th win in a row and their third straight OVC sweep. It also moved the Lions into second place in the OVC.

Wapp (W, 9-7) picked up her second win of the weekend in relief after tossing the final 4.0 innings allowing no runs. Weyh (ND) earned a no decision has throwing the first five innings allowing three runs on seven hits with four strikeouts.

Western Illinois got on the board first in game three with an RBI double by Bella Alvarez. Lindenwood tied the game up with their pitcher after Weyh hit a sac fly to center field in the third inning to score West.

Jolie McMinn gave the Lions their first lead in the fifth inning with a two RBI single putting them up 3-1. The Leathernecks tied the game for the second time after another two RBI double by Alvarez.

After a pitching duel for had the game knotted at three runs each heading into the ninth inning, the Lions struck one final time giving them their 10t straight win. Bethany got the ball ruling after hit a tough play into left field that brought in three runs off of an error. Gerber continued her great weekend with another RBI single and was followed by West with two more runs to bring the score of 9-3. Wapp closed the door again and gave Lindenwood the win.

Lindenwood will travel to Southeast Missouri State next weekend when they take on the SEMO Redbirds for a three game series. For more information go to lindenwoodlions.com.