Southwest's softball team traveled to Meridian on Wednesday for a doubleheader against the Lady Eagles, and the Lady Bears split the series, dropping Game One, 9-7 and winning Game Two, 8-2.
In Game One, Allie Ladnier started on the mound for Southwest.
Ladnier pitched 4.1 innings with six strikeouts.
Tye Boone faced three batters as well before Mary Claire Salley came in to finish the game.
Salley had a strikeout and no hits allowed in 1.2 innings pitched.
Southwest was leading 4-3 after three innings.
Three of the four runs came on an Alexis Dejean homer in the first inning. The other came when a Kate Clements double scored Jana Phillips.
A massive six-run fifth inning gave the Lady Eagles a 9-4 lead over Southwest.
In the top of the next inning, the Lady Bears cut the deficit to two with a three-run frame.
The three runs came on a Corin Talbot double that scored Lauryn Roebuck, followed by a Tristan Allen two-run home run to move the score to 9-7.
An unfortunate series of at-bats in the top of the seventh saw the Lady Bears take the loss.
Tristan Allen had three hits in Game One including a homer and a double. Jana Phillips, Kate Clements, and Corin Talbot each had two hits, including a double.
Alexis Dejean also had a home run and three RBIs.
The early result wouldn’t stop Southwest however, as it bounced back with a big 8-2 win in Game Two.
Ballard Kraft started at pitcher in Game Two and pitched the entire outing.
Kraft recorded six strikeouts and two runs allowed in seven innings pitched.
Southwest took control early and never gave it back.
The Lady Bears found themselves up 4-0 after three innings, with the first two runs coming on an Allie Ladnier homer and next two scoring via a Tristan Allen home run.
After a four-run fifth inning, Southwest was up 8-2, which would end up being the final score of the contest.
Those runs came on a Tristan Allen sac-fly, a Kate Clements single, a Jana Phillips double and an Allie Ladnier double.
Southwest's pitching held the Eagles scoreless for the final three innings to win 8-2 and split the series.
Kate Clements led the team with three hits. Corin Talbot and Allie Ladnier each had two hits. Madalyn Ashford, Bailey McLin, Jana Phillips, and Tristan Allen all had a hit.
Tristan Allen and Allie Ladnier each recorded a home run and three RBIs.
Allie Ladnier, Corin Talbot and Jana Phillips each had a double as well.
Bailey McLin recorded a hit in both games against Meridian and broke the Southwest softball hit-streak record as a result. McLin has recorded a hit in 19 straight games as just a freshman, breaking a ten-year record.
“The kids fought, they never quit and they never gave up. And that’s the difference with this team. They hit the ball well, and they fight the entire time,” head coach Shea Johnson said. "And Bailey is a special kid, she’s the true definition of a lead-off. She’s going to get the base hit, she’s going to have that .485 on base percentage… she can do it all. It couldn’t have happened to a better kid."
The Lady Bears (17-4, 3-1) travel to Goodman on Saturday to take on Holmes.
