Lincoln takes second game of twinbill from Washburn

TOPEKA, Kan. - The Lincoln University softball team pounded out four home runs while splitting a doubleheader Friday with the Washburn Lady Blues.

Home runs from Shantae Duren and Erin Sommerer weren't enough to help the Blue Tigers win the opener, as they dropped a 6-4 decision. But long balls from Kristina Hein and Brianna Akers propelled the Blue Tigers to a 6-2 win in the nightcap.

In the opener, Washburn took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, only to see Lincoln tie it in the top of the second on Sommerer's homer, a shot down the right-field line.

But Washburn made it 4-1 in the bottom of that inning.

Each team scored a run in the fourth, Lincoln's coming on an RBI single by Kelsey Hight that plated Sommerer.

Washburn made it 6-2 with a run in the fifth before Lincoln got the game's final two runs in the seventh on Duren's pinch-hit homer that also scored Hein.

Lincoln managed just four hits in the loss.

Clair Lorenz (7-2) took the loss in the circle. She pitched the first 31⁄3 innings, giving up five runs (three earned) on seven hits. She walked two and struck out two.

Hein worked the final 22⁄3 innings and gave up one earned run on two hits and three walks. She struck out two.

In the second game, neither team scored until Lincoln broke through with three runs in both the sixth and seventh innings.

In the sixth, it was back-to-back shots that provided the outburst. Sommerer led off with a walk and after moving up to second on a wild pitch, came home when Hein homered over the left-field fence. Akers then followed with a long ball, also to left.

Lauren McMinn's RBI single was the big hit in the seventh, with the other two Lincoln runs scoring on wild pitches.

The Lady Blues scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh on a two-run homer, but that was the only blemish on the pitching outing of Jessica Thomsen (1-1). She threw a seven-hitter, walked three and striking out one.

McMinn paced the Lincoln offense with three hits and one RBI, Hein had two hits and two RBI, Akers added two hits and one RBI and Haley Bartow chipped in with two hits.

Lincoln moved to 10-7-1 overall and 2-2 in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association, while Washburn is now 7-17 and 3-7.

The Blue Tigers will play a doubleheader at 1 p.m. today at Emporia (Kan.) State.