Cincinnati, Ohio – With two conference series remaining in its regular-season campaign, the Transylvania softball team seized two critical wins against the Mount St. Joseph Lions Wednesday afternoon at the Kinder Morgan Softball Complex.

The Pioneers clinched game one with a thrilling 6-5 comeback win, before using an early burst in the second game to grab a 6-2 victory.

Transylvania sewed up a crucial pair of wins in defeating the Lions, who entered the afternoon as the top team in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference standings with a record of 8-2, versus Transylvania, who entered the afternoon 8-4.

The Pioneers climbed back into first place after Tuesday's wins, which slots them a game ahead of both Mt. St. Joseph, whom they now own the tiebreaker over, and Anderson, who split a doubleheader with Transy this past Sunday in Lexington.

Transylvania has one regular-season series left as its heads to Manchester on Saturday for one last conference battle. With a potential sweep in their finale, the Pioneers can clinch no worse than a share of the HCAC regular season-title.

Game One

The first meeting of the day between Transylvania and Mount St. Joseph witnessed just three pure bursts by both teams. To the Pioneers' delight, the final onslaught came from the visiting side.

Momentum went to Transylvania early, as it registered three runs off the bat to commence the first inning. The Pioneers were proficient in getting on base, as sophomore infielder Brittany Mumford was hit by a pitch to begin the game, and sophomore outfielder Shelby Gambrell collected one of her two hits on the day with a bunt single.

A mishandled grounder on a smack from sophomore infielder Meg Liter loaded the bases, and the Pioneers converted their bases-loaded situation into three runs on an assortment of groundouts and an error.

Junior starting pitcher Renae Morton marched through seven full innings for the eventual complete-game victory. Besides one explosive inning for Mount St. Joseph, the junior was flawless in picking up her 13^th win of the season.

Mount St. Joseph asserted itself at home in the bottom of the third inning as the game suddenly took a different tone. Five consecutive Lions reached base with one out before three consecutive singles led to a watershed of scoring, eventually translating into a 5-3 Mount St. Joseph lead.

Following the prolific third inning, the Pioneers settled down defensively as they searched for a response. It arrived in the top of the sixth inning; sophomore outfielder Shelbi Poehlein began a rally with a sharply-hit single into left field. The hot batting continued when sophomore first baseman Jessica Powell swatted a base-hit to left field.

Mount St. Joseph loomed close to escaping the inning as it forced two outs. But Mumford delivered with a single up the middle to score two runners to tie the game at 5-5.

The comeback was completed in the top of the seventh inning as the Pioneers mustered another rally with two outs. Senior infielder Shelby Bailey posted a single to left field, and made her way to third base after a wild pitch. Freshman pinch hitter Sydney Motell did the rest as she shot a line-drive single to score Bailey for the game-winning run.

Morton retired the side in the bottom half of the frame to complete the thrilling win for Transylvania. Her line for the day entailed two strikeouts, two walks, and three earned runs over a full seven innings. The Pioneers collected seven hits to six by the Lions, with six players each finding a hit, and Gambrell going 2-for-4 at bat.

Game Two

While far fewer theatrics were required for the Pioneers' second win of the day, there was a steady supply of offense as the Pioneers built an early lead, and unlike game one, cruised forward to victory with a steady march.

One run came for the Pioneers in the top of the first as Gambrell scored on an infielding error from third base. The run held for Transylvania before the Pios piled on three more runs in the top of the third inning. A two-run single from Motell highlighted the third inning as the Pioneers went ahead 4 to 1.

The Lions tacked on one run each in the third and fourth innings to slice Transy's advantage to 4-2. But the Pioneers found their buffer in the top of the seventh with a two-run inning that came courtesy of Powell's second career home run and her first of the 2017 season.

Three hurlers saw action in game two as sophomore starting pitcher Tayler Thompson collected the win and Morton secured the save. Gambrell, Motell, and Powell each tallied two hits in game two.

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