ARKADELPHIA, Ark. - The Lincoln Blue Tigers started the 2014 season off on the right foot. So did Sam Kircher.
Kircher smacked three home runs as Lincoln swept games with Arkansas-Monticello and Ouachita Baptist on Sunday afternoon to kick off the year eight days after its opener was originally scheduled.
The Blue Tigers opened with a 4-3 victory against Arkansas-Monticello.
Lincoln rallied from a 3-0 deficit to pick up its first win of the year.
The Cotton Blossoms tallied three runs in the bottom of the second to take the lead.
Kircher then blasted a three-run homer to left field in the top of the third to knot the score.
Lincoln scored the game-winning run in the fifth. A two-out single from Jessica Cook eventually saw Erin Sommerer come home with the winning run after an error on the right fielder.
Alyssa Laudwig picked up the win, tossing seven innings and allowing three earned runs on five hits with four walks and a strikeout.
Sommerer, Cook and Shantae Duren all registered two hits.
Lincoln then held off a late rally to claim a 3-2 victory against Ouachita Baptist in the nightcap.
Kircher hit a two-run homer in the top of the first to make it 2-0.
She then added a solo shot in the top of the third to give Lincoln a 3-0 lead. Those home runs accounted for two of Lincoln's three hits in the contest.
Ouachita Baptist scored a run in the fifth and added another in seventh. It threatened to tie the game, placing a runner on third with two outs, but a flyout to center field ended the game.
Cook picked up the win, throwing seven innings while allowing two earned runs on nine htis with two strikeouts and no walks.
Lincoln (2-0) is off until Feb. 23 when the Blue Tigers will play in the Minnesota-Duluth Tournament.