LONDON — Emmie Rice’s fourth home run of the season turned out to be the game-winning hit for South Laurel as the Lady Cardinals survived a rally by Southwestern to win, 6-4.
The game was tied at four apiece in the bottom
of the fifth inning when Rice’s blast flew over the right field fence while also scoring Skye Lawson to give South Laurel (5-2) the lead for good.
“I am very pleased with the way we are playing,” South Laurel coach Carly Mink said. “We are getting timely hits once again and had great defense tonight. Maddie Worley also pitched a great game.
“Southwestern is a great team with some really good hitters,” she added. “I’m proud of the team for playing strong all seven innings and coming out hitting early. We have a lot of good hitters throughout our lineup and we expect to hit like that every night.”
The Lady Cardinals have now won five in a row after starting the season with two losses.
They were able to jump out on the Lady Warriors early by scoring four runs in the bottom of the second inning.
“I think it’s huge to jump on the board early to gain control of the game,” Mink said. “We have been doing a good job doing that and now we just have to search for consistency.”
Addison Baker led the way with two hits, three RBI, and one run scored. Aubree Laster also delivered a hit, and an RBI while Lawson, Madison Worley, and Morgan Jackson each delivered a hit apiece.
Worley pitched all seven innings, allowing seven hits, four earned runs while striking out three batters.
