CLINTON, S.C. – For the second time in the past four home games, the Presbyterian College softball team picked up a victory of high theatrics in the form of an 8^th-inning walk-off with the score undecided. This time, junior first baseman Kendall Owens was the culprit, rifling a two-out base hit that scored Kelby Goodrum for the 3-2 win over Winthrop on Sunday afternoon.

Splitting the first pair yesterday to set up a winner-takes-the-series affair, the Blue Hose made it three years in a row of beating their in-state rivals at least twice, intertwined in their sixth extra-innings contest of the spring already and ending with a mob towards Owens following the series-clincher.

Starting pitchers Jenna Greene and Reese Basinger – two all-Big South caliber performers – duked it out all game long in a box score that reflected their elite abilities on the defensive end.

However, all that mattered by the conclusion was the 2-1 mark that PC have given themselves inside of league action, outlasting the Eagles by a 9-7 overall difference in the three-game set.

 
NOTABLES
 
- None of Owens' 24 hits have been sweeter than the one she produced with the game potentially going another stanza, needing to bring in Goodrum from third and doing just that, her second hit off of Basinger that decided the bout.

- Goodrum put herself in position to secure the walk-off run in a series where she dispatched possibly her best-ever Big South sequence: a 7-of-11 ratio at the plate over the past three meetings which improves on her team-high 30 hits.

- After incredibly walking zero in 58 at-bats during yesterday's doubleheader, Greene and freshman Kasey Wolfe tag-teamed the win by retiring nine and allowing just two Winthrop runs (a theme that carried over to each game of the series).

- PC has collected the W in two of their last three encounters that advanced beyond the usual seven frames, achieving their eighth home triumph of the year and 10^th altogether by coming out on the right side of a defensive slugfest.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
- Taking a page from Game 2 against the Eagles in that most of the juiciest offensive plays occurred near the middle of the matchup, Presby gained the upper hand of the pitcher's duel by grabbing two 5^th-inning runs with Gracie DeCuir and Kaitlyn Tucker landing those RBI's.

- A bunt single and sacrifice fly enabled head coach David Williams' club to stay ahead by a deuce approaching the 7^th, only for the visitors to keep things going in their last chance with back-to-back run-scoring swings.

-  Wolfe ensured that the Eagles would never take the lead by going 1-2-3 in the top of the 8^th, snaring her third personal win in the process by contributing a single later in the extra chapter.

- Owens gathered at least one hit in all three appearances versus the school's Rock Hill challengers, joining Wolfe's status as walk-off recipients after the newbie casted the same fate to Wofford back on March 5 that resembled the only score of that particular meeting.

- When Winthrop squeezed out the Game 2 win on Saturday, the final tally of 2-1 denoted their seventh victory of the campaign by just one run. Less than 24 hours later, the Blue Hose prescribed the Eagles with a dose of their own medicine, silencing the comeback attempt and starting off Big South play on the right foot.

 
NEXT UP
 
- Coach Williams' unit will take a quick break from conference terrain in a Wednesday visit to Furman, the first of two straight SoCon adversaries in the near future. PC will open the lid on their 35^th all-time meeting against the Paladins on March 20 which segues into a DH.

- Furman has gone 11-14 on the calendar to this point, prepping for their first game in eight days when the Blue Hose come knocking after ending an eight-game losing skid last week with a 9-5 result opposite Gardner-Webb.

- First pitch in Greenville on Wednesday is scheduled for 4:00 PM with a second clash coming immediately after.