(Courtesy Saint Louis Athletics)
Saint Louis scored two runs in the seventh inning and edged George Mason 2-1 Sunday afternoon in game two of an Atlantic 10 Conference doubleheader at GMU Softball Complex.
SLU won the opener 5-3 in eight innings.
The Billikens (25-19, 10-5 A-10) moved into second place in the A-10 standings by going 4-0 over the weekend. SLU defeated George Washington in single games Friday and Saturday. The Bills have two league contests remaining, a home doubleheader vs. La Salle May 3.
The win in Sunday’s nightcap was the 11th comeback victory for Saint Louis this season.
George Mason (21-20, 5-9) scored in the third inning, and Saint Louis had only three hits throughout the first six innings.
Brianna Lore ignited the game-winning rally with a leadoff single, and pinch runner Katie Kroeger stole second before moving to third on a wild pitch. Elizabeth Everingham doubled to bring Kroeger home with the tying run.
Pinch runner Brittany Durant advanced to third on Mackenzie Peter’s ground ball to the right side and scored on Hailey Weavers’ sacrifice fly.
George Mason got the potential tying run to second base in the bottom of the seventh, but Lore (20-11) – who added to her school record for wins in a season – shut the door on the Patriots’ rally.
Weavers added a double to her sac fly, while Peter and Lindsay Friedman singled. Lore, whose 20 wins lead the A-10, struck out six, allowed three hits and walked one.
In the opener, the Billikens struck for three runs in the first inning.
Alex Nickel drew a leadoff walk and advanced to second on Ellie Huffman’s sacrifice. Kelsey Biggs walked with two outs, and Lore’s single scored Nickel and moved Biggs to third.
Biggs scored and Lore scooted to second on a passed ball, and Everingham’s single drove home Lore to make it 3-0.
SLU managed just three hits over the next six frames. Meanwhile, George Mason scored one run in the fifth and two unearned tallies in the seventh to send the game into extra innings.
However, the SLU offense reawakened in the eighth. Friedman walked to lead off the inning, stole second and scored on an error by the second baseman on a ball off the bat of Biggs.
Pinch runner Kroeger swiped second and moved to third on Lore’s groundout. Following Everingham’s infield single, Peter gave the Bills a 5-3 advantage with a single that plated Kroeger.
Lore, who pitched the first four innings and re-entered the circle in the seventh, was the winner. She fanned seven, yielded no runs and three hits and did not walk a batter in 5 2/3 innings.
Peter was 3-for-4 with a double, and Madeline Brungardt joined Everingham in the two-hit column. Friedman and Biggs drew two walks apiece.
The Billikens step away from A-10 action Wednesday, April 30, hosting Bradley in a single game that begins at 7 p.m.
