Clinton, Miss. -- The Lady Hawks split the doubleheader with Mississippi College Saturday afternoon, taking the opener 3-2 before falling in the finale 3-1.
Shorter moves to 13-7 on the season and 5-3 in the Gulf South Conference; while the Lady Choctaws move to 10-9 overall and 4-4 in conference play.
The Lady Hawks got on the board first in game one as
Tiffany Holland scored the game's first run. Despite chances, the score stood until the fifth when MC tied things up on a RBI single from Katherine Lee to bring in Shayla McKissock. And, from there the teams looked for the go ahead.
With the game still tied in the tenth they tiebreaker rule was put into play. For Shorter,
Peyton Barthel was placed on second to begin the inning and scored to put the Lady Hawks ahead when
Taylor Martin reached base on a fielder's choice.
The Lady Choctaws tied the game in the bottom of the inning on an RBI single from Shelby Miller. Before Shorter took the lead in the top of the eleventh on a sacrifice fly from
Ericka Bynum, bringing in Holland; who began the inning on second. The Lady Hawks preserved the win as MC was retired in order, stranding a runner at third.
Payton Lippert earned the win, pitching all eleven innings; allowing one earned run on eight hits with a walk and six strikeouts.
Eight different players tallied a hit in the game; while Holland and Martin each finished with two stolen bases apiece.
In the finale, the Lady Choctaws took the lead in the fourth, plating a pair of runs. But, Shorter came back in the sixth with a run of their own to cut the lead in half as
Dani Lukas scored on an error after reaching base earlier in the inning on a walk.
MC added a final run in the bottom of the sixth for the 3-1 final score.
Hannah Draper took the loss, allowing two earned runs on seven hits with two walks and a strikeout through six inning of work.
Of the Lady Hawks' three hits, Holland tallied two; while
Maddie Hunt delivered the third.
Shorter will look to earn the series win Sunday afternoon. Game time is set for 3:00pm EST.