SAINT LEO, Fla. – The #22 Saint Leo University softball team had a doubleheader to remember Thursday night, as the Lions downed King University (Tenn.) 9-0 in five innings in the first game before taking the second game in walk-off fashion with a 9-8 win at University Softball Stadium.
 
#22 SLU 9, KING 0 (5 inn.)
Saint Leo (22-3, 8-1 SSC) recorded eight hits in a contest, fueled by Junior catcher Madyson Coe's 2-for-2 performance at the plate, producing four RBIs.
 
A leadoff double for King (12-8, 0-0 CC) in the third inning prevented Junior pitcher Kayla Betts (10-0) from throwing a second no-no on the season, as the Leesburg, Fla. fanned six in a 59-pitch performance in the circle.
 
The Green & Gold scored three runs apiece in the first and second innings before putting the game to rest in the fifth inning.
 
#22 SLU 9, KING 8
In a classic thriller for the ages, the Lions erased a four-run deficit in the seventh inning to come back and win 9-8 to sweep the Tornado.
 
Four Lions finished the game batting 2-for-4, including Freshman infielder Briana Neal who tallied two RBIs and Sophomore infielder Shyanne Waller recording a RBI of her own.
 
Junior pitcher Kayla Swinson (4-2) initially came in for relief, but the former SUN Conference Pitcher of the Year silenced the Tornado hitters in the game's final three and two-third innings, allowing no runs and no hits with one walk and two strikeouts as the native of Plant City, Fla. picked up her fourth win of the season.
 
After conceding the first three runs to King in the top of the first, the Lions responded in the bottom half with four runs, highlighted by Waller's go-ahead RBI hit that scored Freshman outfielder Bianca Polistina to give Saint Leo a 4-3 lead.
 
King would quickly tie the game in the second inning before retaking the lead in the fourth, en route to a four-run inning that gave the Tornado an 8-4 lead.
 
Getting players on base was crucial for the Green & Gold, loading the bases off King errors and stolen bases to load the bags, setting up Neal's hit-by-pitch to cash in a run for the Lions before a grounder on the next at-bat left Lions on all bags.
 
Swinson's pitching kept Saint Leo to a three-run difference with King, heading into the bottom of the seventh.  Coe fired up the dugout and the crowd with a leadoff single to left field before back-to-back bunts from Waller and Sophomore outfielder Hope Epps quickly loaded the bases.
 
Junior infielder Alexandra Hare blasted a critical hit to center field that brought in two runs to cut the difference to one run (8-7) with one out.  Momentum carried into the next at-bat, as a King throwing error from the pitcher allowed the Lions to tie the game 8-8 with runners at second and third.  Neal would deliver the game-winning RBI two at-bats later to bring home Hare for the 9-8 win.
 
Saint Leo is set to host a non-conference, regional three-game series against Lee University this weekend, with the first pitch set for Saturday at noon.
 
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