Lexington, KY. – The Transylvania University women's softball team extended their largest winning streak of the season to six games on Saturday with a sweep of the Rose-Hulman Fightin' Engineers; the Pioneers took Game One, 5-3 and emerged victorious in Game Two with a 4-1 result.

Jamie Lutes stood out on a day where the Pioneers increased their hold on first place in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference standings as they improved to 9-1 in HCAC play, two games ahead of second-place Anderson. The pitcher claimed the win in Game One in 4.2 innings of relief, while starting in Game Two and going six more innings to take the win in both games.  

The Pioneers' overall record grew to 17-10 after the pair of wins, continuing an impressive rise under second-year head coach Shawn Hendrickson. After winning 13 games in 2015, the Pioneers have gone 8-2 in the month of April.  

Freshman third baseman Meg Liter led the Pioneers during the first contest of the day with two hits and a single run. Liter's single to left field and double to left center gave the freshman 22 total for her first campaign and the 10^th hit in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference play.

Junior shortstop Shelby Bailey, freshman catcher Jessica Powell, senior Katie Hulsman, and senior pitcher Jamie Lutes each added a single hit while sophomore left fielder Madison Dorsey, Bailey, and junior first baseman Krista DeBurger supplied additional runs to complement Liter.

DeBurger led the Pioneers in scoring with two runs after reaching base via a walk and a hit by pitch. The junior earned her first run by stealing second and advancing to both third and home on two separate errors. The second run came after DeBurger reached third on a double by Liter and then scored on an RBI single by Powell.

Lutes picked up the win from the mound after facing 15 batters in a long relief appearance, giving up zero runs on one hit and three strikeouts. This marks the eighth win of the season for the senior who is tied for second in the conference in wins.

Scoring was frequent for both teams in the early stages of Game One. Three runs by Dorsey, Bailey, and DeBurger provided Transylvania with a 3-0 lead before Rose-Hulman tacked on two runs in the bottom of the frame.

Following a scoreless inning in the second by both teams, Transylvania outscored Rose-Hulman 2 to 1 in the third inning thanks to an RBI single by Powell that drove in DeBurger, and a Liter run off a Hulman single and ensuing error. Leading 5-3 after the third inning, neither team scored the rest of the way as the Pioneers locked in defensively.

In Game Two, Liter and freshman center-fielder Shelby Gambrell led the Pioneers from behind the plate with two hits apiece. Both Liter and Gambrell scored a single run each to combine for half of Transylvania's runs in the 4-1 win.

Lutes secured her second win in the double header after staring down 25 batters from Rose-Hulman, allowing only one run on five hits and three more strikeouts.

Stiles picked up the save as she closed out the seventh inning with one strikeout and retired the side.

Transylvania struck first in the third inning to the tune of a 2-0 lead. Following a Gambrell, double, Mumford struck a powerful home run to score both.

The Pioneers replicated another 2-0 inning in the fifth off a Meg Liter RBI double and and RBI groundout by Powell.

Rose-Hulman answered with a single run in the bottom of the sixth inning to pull within three runs, but Stiles and Lutes continued their march through the HCAC by stifling any looming offensive threat from Rose-Hulman the rest of the weay.

The Pioneers inch closer to at least a seat at the table for the HCAC tournament with two conference doubleheaders remaining, and three total in the regular season. The Pioneers are back at home and in action against Spalding this Friday with Game One scheduled for 3:30 p.m. before hosting third-place Manchester the following day in a 1:00 p.m. doubleheader. The Manchester doubleheader also marks Senior Day in which three Transylvania seniors will be honored prior to that crucial contest.

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