NEWBERRY, S.C. – Coming off a doubleheader sweep of Southern Wesleyan University with 5-4 and 11-6 victories, the Lady Indians of Newberry College split a pair of games with Mt. Olive College Sunday afternoon, 4-3 and 3-6, in college softball action at Newberry’s softball complex.

GAME ONE:  Christina Kirby (Delmar, Del.) was game one’s hero, giving up six hits and three runs on the mound, and producing just as well at the plate.  Her seventh-inning one-out single scored Jen Wilson (Orlando, Fla.) to break the 3-3 tie and give Newberry the win.

Mt. Olive (1-4) jumped to a 3-0 lead after five and a half innings, until the Lady Indians (3-3) mounted a fierce comeback in the sixth.  With two outs and a runner on second, the Lady Trojans combined for a passed ball, two walks, and a fielding error to give Newberry its first run.  Julie Wideman (Greenwood, S.C.) drilled a clutch bases-loaded single to left field, scoring two runs to tie the contest.

Wideman was effective at the plate, going two-for-three with a pair of RBI and a strikeout.  Wilson hit two safeties, including the single that made her the go-ahead run in the seventh.  Kirby moves to 3-1 on the season.  Trojan pitcher Erin Case (New Berg, Ore.) picked up the loss in 1/3 inning of work.

GAME TWO:  Newberry gave away its chance to record a second come-from-behind victory over Mt. Olive by committing three errors in the top of the seventh inning to score two Trojan runs on no hits.  A 4-3 deficit turned into a three-run margin going into the final frame, and Newberry’s final push was thwarted when Heather Arnold (Whitmire, S.C.) was tagged out when, while stealing third on a passed ball, she came off the bag after initially being ruled safe.

Mt. Olive put together a three-run third inning when its first four batters reached base on two walks and two singles.  Newberry shortstop Courtney Lindler (Irmo, S.C.) forced out MOC runner Jackie Wyman (Virginia Beach, Va.) at home, but then failed to handle the next ball hit her way to allow the Lady Trojans’ second run.  Kristie Smith’s (Charlotte, N.C.) groundout opened the door for shortstop Kim Goens (Charlotte, N.C.) to come home for the 3-1 lead.

Newberry edged its way back into the game, scoring a run in both the fifth and sixth innings to trail 4-3.  After Mt. Olive’s two-run seventh, chances for a comeback looked grim with NC’s first two batters going down to a groundout and a strikeout.  Lindler and Kirby, batting third and fourth, drove nearly identical loopers to left center field.  Junior Brantley Riley (Saluda, S.C.) fired a shot too hard for Case to handle, plating Lindler and putting Kirby’s pinch runner, Arnold on second.  With Ashleigh Anderson (Barnwell, S.C.) at the dish, Case threw a wicked ball that catcher Niki Price (Charlotte, N.C.) appeared to lose.  Arnold broke late for third, Price recovered and threw to Tracy Evans (Ash, N.C.).  The throw was late and Arnold was ruled safe, but her momentum took her past third, and Evans tagged the leg that left the base for the third out.

Lindler was unstoppable at the plate, batting 1.000 with a RBI in the nightcap, and making an impossible dive-recover-throw putout in the second inning.  Wilson singled twice again in the second game, batting in one run.  No Trojan besides Liz Recny (3-for-3) hit Newberry starter Kayce McLeod (Newberry, S.C.) more than once.  Case was the pitcher of record in Mt. Olive’s victory, while McLeod drops to 1-3 with the loss.

### GO INDIANS ###