Lexington, KY – Trying to rebound from an earlier setback in the day against Hanover, the Transylvania softball team erased a six-run deficit to tie the Franklin Grizzlies before falling 9-8 in extra innings at Hall Field Friday afternoon in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament.

The loss was Transylvania's second of the day, eliminating them from a chance to attain the automatic bid for the NCAA Softball Tournament. Franklin advanced to play the winner of the upcoming Hanover-Anderson on Saturday morning at 11 a.m.

Having to quickly shake off the effects of an upset loss to No. 4 seed Hanover, the No. 1 seed Transy Pioneers weathered a quick start by No. 3 seed Franklin in the loser's bracket. As the designated home team for the second game of the day for both teams, Franklin jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, maintaining that margin through the first four innings of the game.

Transylvania finally scored their long-awaited first run of the day on an RBI double by senior Katie Hulsman to score Miranda Mathews and provide the hometown Pioneers with a beat of inspiration, as Franklin's lead was cut to 4-1.

Transylvania continued to dig one inning later as Shelbi Poehlein delivered an RBI base hit that scored Shelby Bailey, making it a 4-2 game in favor of Franklin.

In the bottom of the sixth, Franklin appeared primed to put the game out of reach, using a home run from Taylor Johnson, and two more RBI doubles that extended their advantage to 8-2.

But the top of the seventh inning provided a long frame that was one of the standout moments of the 2016 tournament.

Trailing 8-2, the Pioneers began going to work quickly. With one out, Brittany Mumford smacked a base hit to left field, and Ashley Frees was then walked. Krista DeBurger was hit by a pitch and the bases were suddenly loaded for Transylvania. Bailey delivered with a single to the right side to score Mumford, beginning a six-run inning that suddenly vaulted Transylvania right back into the thick of it.

With Franklin one out away from victory and Transylvania still trailing 8-6, Shelby Gambrell drew a bases-loaded walk to pull the Pioneers within one run. Coveting a tie, the next hitter Mumford was hit by a pitch to score the tying run, and the game went into the bottom of the seventh inning.

The Pioneers and Grizzlies journeyed into an eighth inning and neither team could find the game-defining score, and the Pioneers were stifled again in the top of the ninth. The magic moment came for Franklin in the bottom of the ninth, when Baylea Suiters hit a bases-loaded one-out single to center field, delivering the game-winning RBI.

The win sends Franklin into the potential for a memorable Saturday. The Grizzlies will need to win three straight games in order to clinch the HCAC conference tournament crowd. Step one is their 11 a.m. meeting with No. 2 seed Anderson.  

The result for Transylvania ends their regular season and conference postseason slate at 26-13 on the year, completing a remarkable turnaround from just one year ago when they went 13-23 and 5-11 in conference play. In 2016, the Pioneers went 14-3 in regular season competition after being voted on to finish eighth out of nine teams in the preseason poll.