Madison Barnett pitched two complete games to help the Lady Flames sweep past the Choctaws this weekend.
Madison Barnett delivered in the circle once again and Shelby Cole hit her second home run of the series to help the Lee softball team complete a crucial three-game Gulf South Conference sweep of Mississippi College on Saturday afternoon from Butler Field.
Barnett, a freshman from Tullahoma, Tenn., tossed her third straight complete game in the circle for the Lady Flames. Barnett danced around 11 Choctaw hits, struck out five and did not surrender a walk to move to 6-5 on the year.
A key turning point in the contest was the fourth inning.
The Choctaws loaded the bases with one out before Barnett buckled down and got a strikeout and a fly out to end the threat. Annalyn Ormsby chased down a fly ball deep in the right field corner to end the inning.
In the bottom of the fourth the Lady Flames offense, held hitless by Avery Sanders (9-13) through three innings, finally broke through with three runs. Ormsby executed a perfect suicide squeeze bunt to score Laney Harris, who led off the inning with a double off the left field wall. McKinney then worked a walk before Cole launched a home run deep over the left field wall to make it 4-1.
Sanders went 3.2 innings and gave up all four runs, three earned, on two hits and five walks.
Mississippi College would threaten in its final at bat in the seventh. The Choctaws had runners on first and third and nobody out before the Lady Flames turned one of the most unusual double plays you'll ever see. Rayne Minor lined a bullet off the leg of third-baseman Taylor De Adder but the ball ricocheted up in the air and into the glove of Barnett who tossed it over to first to complete the double play. After a run scoring double, Barnett induced a line out to center to end the contest and complete the sweep.
"We needed this weekend for our confidence and momentum," said Lee head coach Emily Russell. "Barnett threw well this weekend and the defense was strong behind the pitching. Our hitting was great and at crucial moments we executed."
Senior Kayla Louie singled in the game and wrapped up her career at Butler Field going 7 for 11 (.636) over the three-game series with five runs scored.
McCall Lee went 2 for 4 with an RBI double for the Choctaws. Jordan LaFosse and Shelby Carlson also added two hits each.
With the three-game sweep the Lady Flames improve to 17-18 on the year and 14-13 in league play. It also marks the seventh straight win at Butler Field to close out the home portion of the schedule. The loss drops the Choctaws to 16-19 and 12-14 in league play.
"We got tougher this weekend and I'm proud of all of them. It was a good senior sendoff from Butler Field," concluded Russell.
The Lady Flames will wrap up the regular season with a trip down to West Florida next weekend. Lee needs just one won more win or a West Alabama loss to clinch a spot in the GSC Tournament, which is set to begin May 6 in Oxford, Ala.