Posted: Mar 24, 2009
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GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Shanda Kimbrough hit a walk-off
home run in game two of a South Atlantic Conference doubleheader at
Red Edmonds Field on Tuesday to lead the Tusculum College softball
team (10-18, 1-3 SAC) to a twin-bill split with Lincoln Memorial
University (14-12, 1-3 SAC).Taylor MacDonald and Makenzie Loy each collected three hits for the Pioneers as Loy, Kimbrough, and Rachel Hopper each drove in a run on the afternoon. Hopper and Katy Stuckwish each recorded a double in the twin-bill.
Tusculum's Lindsay Bridges (2-3) earned her second win of the season with her first career shutout in game two, hurling seven scoreless innings to notch TC's first shutout victory of the campaign. Holli Cadenhead (6-11) made the start in game one and pitched the first four and one-third innings for TC; Aly Hansen (2-4) threw two and two-thirds scoreless innings in relief of Cadenhead to keep the Pioneers within striking distance.
Lincoln Memorial's Jackie Adams paced the Railsplitters with four hits in six at-bats on the day, while Sammy Jo Garrett led the team with two RBI. Sara Henn and Bridget Eicher each recorded a double on the afternoon, as Devin Sponseller turned in a 3-for-6 performance in the twin-bill.
Brooklynn Jimison (7-7) took both decisions for the Railsplitters in the doubleheader, pitching the full seven innings in game one and allowing two runs on four hits while striking out three batters to earn her seventh win of the season. Brittany Stuive made the start for LMU in game two and threw four and two-thirds innings of shutout ball before being relieved by Jimison in the fifth. Jimison pitched the final one and one-third innings of game two, allowing one run on three hits.
Game 1: Lincoln Memorial 5, Tusculum 2
Tusculum opened the scoring in game one with two runs in the first inning to take an early 2-0 lead on a pair of RBI singles by Hopper and Loy. Lincoln Memorial cut the lead to 2-1 with a run in the second when Joy Grills drove in Mira McPeek with a two-out RBI single to left field.
The Railsplitters took the lead with four runs in the fifth inning on three hits, including Garrett's one-out two-run triple to left field that broke a 2-2 tie. Henn later plated Garrett with a sacrifice fly to stretch the lead to 5-2. Jimison then closed out LMU's first SAC win of the season by retiring nine of the final 10 batters she faced.
Game 2: Tusculum 1, Lincoln Memorial 0
The second game of the twin-bill turned out to be a showcase of pitching and defense, as each team made a number of stellar plays in the field and worked out of jams to take a scoreless game into the seventh inning.
Lincoln Memorial threatened with multiple base runners in each of the first, second and seventh innings, but Bridges and her defense were able to work their way out of jams to preserve the scoreless tie. Tusculum threatened to break the deadlock in the fifth after Stuckwish's one-out double and a base knock by MacDonald, before the Railsplitters recorded the final out of the inning to send the game into the sixth.
The Pioneers later claimed their second walk-off win of the season, when Kimbrough led off the bottom of the seventh inning by launching a 1-0 pitch over the wall in left field for her first home run of the campaign.
Tusculum returns to the diamond on Saturday when the Pioneers travel to Hickory, N.C. for a SAC matchup with No. 10 Lenoir-Rhyne University at Bears Field. First pitch is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.