Matt Barker, Sports Information Director

HENDERSON, Tenn. - The Freed-Hardeman Lady Lion Softball team took over sole possession of first place in the American Midwest Conference Friday afternoon with a pair of come from behind wins over No. 15 Columbia College at Morgan Stadium.

With the Friday sweep, the Lady Lions move to 26-11 on the season and 18-2 in conference play. Columbia College falls to 23-12 on the season and 16-4 in AMC play with the loss.

"I was very proud of our team for the heart that was shown today," said Todd Humphry, head coach for the FHU Softball team. "It took a lot of guts to fight back and beat a top ranked team in the late innings."

In the opening game of the double-header, the Lady Lions were forced to overcome a three-run deficit after six innings of play to pick up the 8-7 victory. However, a trio of hits by Hannah Wright, Morgan Warren and Abbi Gooch put FHU in position for the comeback. The game-winning sequence came following an Emily Bombard walk with two outs. Following the walk, Bombard attempted to steal second base, which forced a throw by the Cougar defense allowing Caitlyn Carter to steal home from third base for the game winning run.

Makenzie Prince (13-6) picked up the win in the opening game, as she gave up 12 hits and two earned runs while striking out six batters. The Lady Lions matched Columbia's offense and pounded out 13 hits of their own, led by Caitlyn Carter, who went 3-for-5 on the day. Hannah Wright followed close behind and went 2-for-4 on the day with a double while Kaylyn Graham went 2-for-4 with two RBI.

Unlike the opening game of the double-header, where both teams combined for 25 hits, the nightcap was a pitching duel that took 10 innings to be decided. Following eight innings of play, the match-up was scoreless, as Columbia combined for just six hits while FHU pounded just two hits. However, despite a lack of offense throughout the first eight innings, both teams more than made up for it in the final two innings.

The Cougars struck first in the top of the ninth inning, as Samantha Myers crossed the plate following an RBI single by Olivia Denslow to put Columbia up 1-0.

However, despite falling behind in the extra innings session the Lady Lions were not phased, as they pushed one run of their own across in the bottom half of the inning to even things up at one apiece. Annalise Jarnagin scored the lone run in the inning following an RBI single by Mallory Spurlock to enforce the international tie-breaker rule in the 10th inning.

Similar to the ninth inning, the 10th inning had plenty of offense, as Columbia College opened the inning with another run, courtesy of a sacrifice fly by Molly Carter that scored Julianna Waldner who started the inning at second base due to the international tie breaker. However, despite giving up the early run, Spurlock was able to get out of the jam without surrendering another run.

The Lady Lions; however, would not be satisfied with simply tying things up in the bottom half of the inning, as they were able to push two runs across to complete the sweep of the Cougars with a 3-2 final. Abbi Gooch scored the first run in the inning following an RBI single by Emily Bombard while an RBI single by Makenzie Prince scored Bombard later in the inning for the game-winning run.

Mallory Spurlock (12-4) picked up the win in the nightcap, as she worked a complete game and allowed just eight hits and one earned run while striking out an impressive 10 batters for her 12th win of the season. Kaitlyn Nottelmann suffered the loss for Columbia, despite working a solid nine innings and allowing just six hits and two earned runs while striking out seven.

With four games to play in the conference season, the Lady Lions currently sit in first place in the American Midwest Conference with an 18-2 record in AMC play.

UP NEXT: The Lady Lions are back in action Wednesday, April 25th, as they make the trip to Missouri Baptist University for a double-header scheduled for 2:00 PM in St. Louis, Mo.