It was the perfect time for Leslie Callahan, the longest-tenured Lincoln Blue Tiger, to step to the plate.
With two outs and the winning run on second in the bottom of the ninth inning of a tie game, Callahan got just enough of a 1-0 inside pitch to hit a soft line drive up the middle and off the glove of second baseman McKensy Glass.
Kierra O’Rourke, who reached on a leadoff double, narrowly beat the throw to the plate by sliding around the tag to score the winning run, sending Lincoln to its first MIAA victory of the season with a 4-3 win against the Emporia State Hornets in Game 2 of Friday’s doubleheader at LU Softball Field.
“That was awesome,” Lincoln coach Jason Ollison said. “… She’s done so much to help lead what we are doing, and there is not a person that I would trust in that situation more, that’s for sure.”
Emporia State scored the first run of the game, plating a run on a two-out RBI single to center field by Josie Harrison in the top of the first.
But the Blue Tigers answered in a big way in the bottom half.
Callahan was hit by a pitch to lead off the frame and moved up to second on a single to left by Abbi Conrad. Maris Ollison walked to load the bases and Gabby Newman tied the game with a sacrifice fly to left field.
Lincoln then took a 3-1 lead after Conrad and Ollison scored on a two-out error on a groundball to first base.
The three-run inning came after the Blue Tigers scored two in the bottom of the seventh inning of Game 1, the team’s first runs since a 4-0 win March 13 against Minnesota State-Moorhead.
“That lets everybody breathe a sigh of relief,” Jason Ollison said. “It had been a week or so since we’ve scored a run, so for us to come out and score late in that first game and then to score in the first inning of the second game was a big, big plus for us.”
The score remained 3-1 until the Hornets threatened a big inning in the fourth.
Emporia State’s first three batters reached to load the bases with no outs, but freshman Abby Pulliam nearly worked out of it unscathed.
Pulliam recorded back-to-back strikeouts before issuing a bases-loaded walk to Lexi Williams to plate a run. Pulliam got out of the frame with the lead still in tact on a hard lineout to Newman at shortstop.
“She’s going to be a big, big pitcher for us in the next three or four years,” Jason Ollison said. “She can get it done as a freshman already, and there isn’t a situation too big for her.”
Pulliam went back to the circle for the top of the seventh, still holding the 3-2 lead and looking to finish her second complete game in a row.
But a leadoff infield single put the tying run on base before a sacrifice bunt moved the runner all the way to third with one out. Harrison then tied it with a single to left field.
Mallorey Rogers entered with two outs and got out of the frame. Rogers gave the Blue Tigers two more chances to win the game in extras with back-to-back scoreless frames in the eighth and ninth.
“Huge outing for her as well,” Jason Ollison said. “… Our pitchers and our defense all around, we’ve improved so much.”
O’Rourke led the way at the plate for Lincoln in Game 2 after finishing 3-for-4, while Callahan finished 1-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI.
Harrison finished 3-for-5 with two RBI to lead the Hornets.
III
The Blue Tigers’ comeback bid in Game 1 fell just short.
Lincoln entered the bottom of the seventh trailing 3-0 but got the tying run in scoring position after a two-out, two-RBI double to left-center by Conrad.
Maris Ollison had a chance to tie it, but her fly ball to right field was caught and Lincoln dropped a 3-2 decision.
“That’s what we’ve done all year,” Jason Ollison said. “We get to those late innings and we start putting things together. This team doesn’t quit, they just keep battling and battling.”
Emporia State took control early in Game 1.
The Hornets plated a run in the top of the first on a ground-rule double to right-center by Alexis Dial and added two more in the second on an RBI groundout by Glass and an RBI single by Emma Furnish to take a 3-0 lead.
Paige Rademann settled in to follow and did not allow a run in her final four innings. Rademann took the loss after allowing three runs on seven hits and three walks to go with three strikeouts.
“She’s throwing so much better,” Jason Ollison said. “… She’s had some hard luck, but she’s definitely pitched well enough to win the last three or four times out.”
An interference call halted a potential rally for Lincoln in the bottom of the third.
After Callahan drew a one-out walk and Mackenzie Graham singled as the next batter, Conrad rolled a ground ball to the shortstop and beat the throw to first. Callahan was ruled for interference and called out at third on the play, which turned what would’ve been a bases-loaded, one-out scenario into a two-on, two-out situation.
The inning ended one batter later on a groundout to second base.
“Leslie was kind of stuck because the shortstop had to charge it and she had already taken off,” Jason Ollison said. “She was going to be out either way. If she stops and lets the shortstop through, she’s just going to throw it to third base. She just has to go, and that’s what she did. Just an unfortunate play.”
The Blue Tigers finished with nine hits in Game 1, led by Conrad’s 3-for-4 effort and Graham’s two hits.
Furnish and Brooke Flewelling each had two hits to lead Emporia State (20-13, 4-6 MIAA) in Game 1.
Lincoln (9-17, 1-7 MIAA) will be back in action at 1 p.m. today when it hosts Washburn for another MIAA doubleheader.