PITTSBURG -- The Lindenwood Lions softball team (8-30, 1-13 MIAA) fell prey to a hard hitting Pittsburg State (30-9, 14-0 MIAA) team on Saturday (April 2) at the PSU Softball Complex. The Gorillas tallied 23 hits and 14 runs on the way to 3-1 and 11-1 (5-inning) wins. 

In game one, Katy Remy paced the Gorilla offense with a 3-for-4 performance at the plate with a home run, a run scored and an RBI. Jenna Bolton also went 3-for-4 with a run scored and a double. Ashton Pratt was 2-for-4 .

Pitcher Emmie Robertson held the Lions to just one run on four hits. She fanned six batters while only walking one. She is now 17-4 on the season.

Pitt State had runners on in every inning but the fourth. The team plated its first run with two outs in the third. Kylie Guthier reached first on a Lion error. Bolton followed, dropping a base hit into center. Myka got her second hit of the year, an RBI base hit to right to score Guthier for a 1-0 lead.

Lindenwood tied the game with a leadoff home run by Ashley Newcomb in the top of the fifth, but the Gorillas used their own long ball, this time a four-bagger by Remy to take the one-run lead again in the bottom of the same inning.

Pitt State again took advantage of a Lindenwood error to score an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth. Ashton Pratt started the inning with a base hit, but was thrown out attempting to steal. Sierra Hall reached on an error by the Lion secondbaseman. Remy knocked her third hit of the game to right field and Nicole Nease was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Following the second out of the inning, Bolton added a base hit through the left side to bring home Hall for the 3-1 win.

Game two saw the Gorillas put up runs in every inning to earn an 11-1 win in five innings. Cummins led the team with a 2-for-2 performance with two runs, an RBI, a double and two stolen bases. Hall went 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI, while Bolton was 2-for-3 with two runs. Remy and Nease each recorded two RBI.

Morgan Myers had a stellar outing in the circle to improve to 11-4 on the year. She scattered five hits, while giving up one run. She struck out three batters and walked one. 

Hall started the Gorillas with a base hit to center with one out in the first inning. Nease grabbed a two out pitch and took it way out of the park for a 2-0 lead.

Three of the Lions' hits came in the second inning as they plated one run before the Gorillas turned a double play to stop the scoring threat.

Pitt State stretched its lead from 2-1 to 6-1 with four runs in the bottom of the second. Bolton lead off with a base hit. Cummins added a one-out base hit up the middle. Pratt beat out an infield hit with two outs to score Bolton and put runners on the corners. Pratt and Cummins executed a perfect double steal to leave both safe and score another Pitt State run. Hall added her second hit of the game, before Remy dropped a double in right to clear the bases for the five-run lead.

The bottom half of the Pitt State lineup produced four more runs in the third. Bolton and Hayward led off with  back-to-back base hits. Cummins added an RBI with a double to center to score Bolton. Kris Van Hoosen stepped up with an RBI base hit to bring home Hayward. Hall grounded our for the second out of the inning, but earned an RBI as Cummins came home on the play before Van Hoosen scored the final run of the inning on a wild pitch.

Pitt State's final run came on a towering solo home run by Guthier in the bottom of the fourth.

The Gorillas return to action on Sunday (April 3) at 1 p.m. in a doubleheader with Lincoln. The team will be honoring its four seniors Catie Cummins, Alex Perez, Ashton Pratt and Zoe Price between games of the doubleheader.