BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — The Freed-Hardeman University Lady Lions softball team experienced nearly every emotion in their contest against the No. 10 Lindsey Wilson Blue Raiders. Ultimately, exhaustion and heartbreak were the emotions as FHU fell, 8-7, in nine innings.
As the No. 4 seed, the Lady Lions (21-20) went from a game earlier in the day with three combined hits to a game with both teams collecting 30. FHU got going in the top of the third inning when
Alivia Eggleston drove
Karli Quillin home.
Hosting the tournament as the one-seed, Lindsey Wilson (39-6) used back-to-back homers in the fifth inning to make it a three-run game. With two outs left in the game,
Myleah Hardy smacked a grand slam to send the FHU bench into a frenzy with a 5-4 lead. Unfortunately, the Blue Raiders were able to send home the tying run to force extra innings. Hardy's bat again detonated the dugout with a two-run blast; unfortunately, a three-run homer by the hosts walked off the Lady Lions in the ninth inning.
The Lady Lions were led by
Myleah Hardy's three hits - which drove in six runs.
Karli Quillin followed with three hits, while
Alivia Eggleston and
Annalee Qualls both tallied two hits.
Katy Gartrell had the start in the circle where she struck out four batters before giving the ball to
Reagan Locke (3-5) who was charged with the loss after 4 1/3 innings where she punched out one.
Scoring Summary
Bottom 2
A two-out double was followed by an RBI single.
FHU 0, LWU 1
Top 3
Karli Quillin opened the frame with a single before
Chloe Carter sacrificed her to second.
Alivia Eggleston's single would drive Quillin home to knot the game.
FHU 1, LWU 1
Bottom 4
A leadoff double put a runner on base early to break the tie.
FHU 1, LWU 2
Bottom 5
Back-to-back solo homers made it a three-run lead late in the game.
FHU 1, LWU 4
Top 7
The Lady Lions turned everything around in their final inning beginning with a single from
Annalee Qualls. Quillin followed with a double before Carter's walk loaded the bases to bring up the big bat of
Myleah Hardy. The MSC Player of the Year sent the first pitch she saw over the center field fence for a grand slam to take the lead.
FHU 5, LWU 4
Bottom 7
The Blue Raiders used their bench to begin a rally in the bottom of the seventh, with a pair of pinch-hit singles helping the tying run to cross.
FHU 5, LWU 5
Top 9
It was again the bat of Hardy that gave the Lady Lions the lead, this time with a two-run blast to also score Carter.
FHU 7, LWU 5
Bottom 9
Lindsey Wilson opened the inning with a set of singles. The top-seed Blue Raiders would then hit a walk-off three-run blast to claim the win.
FHU 7, LWU 8
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Up Next
With the backs to the wall, the Lady Lions will battle the No. 6 seed Cumberland Phoenix on May 1 beginning at 11:00 a.m.
