March 27, 2009 11:55 am
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By DARIN ALLRED
Register Sports Editor
North Central Texas College softball fans saw an exciting come-from-behind win over Grayson County College Wednesday, but Thursday's victory topped that one.
The Lady Lions got a walk-off two-run double from sophomore third baseman Whitney Harris to defeat Grayson 7-6 and sweep the two-game home series.
North Central trailed 6-3 going into the bottom of the fifth but they managed to scored two runs in the fifth and two more in the seventh to pick up their fourth-straight win and move them within two games of first place in the North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference.
Trailing 6-5 in their last at-bat, Ashlee Coleman led off the inning with a walk. Ashleigh McLean tried to move her to second with a bunt, but Grayson pitcher Abby Burns fielded the bunt and threw out Coleman at second. Brittany Luna then singled to move McLean to third base and Luna advanced to second on a bobble in the outfield. Harris then smashed a shot over the Grayson left fielder to plate both McLean and Luna to end the game.
North Central jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the third inning as J.J. Addington started a two-out rally with a triple. Christin Robertson then walked and Coleman followed with a two-run double. She would later score on a wild pitch.
Grayson got two runs back in the top of the fourth as Brittany Meek singled and Mandi Worthington hit a two-run homer to dead centerfield. The Lady Vikings added four more runs in the fifth as Courtney Merchant singled, Ashley McAnnally walked, Rachel Bolding singled, Worthington had an RBI single, Ryan Rickman had a two-run double and Burns got an RBI on a sacrifice fly to center.
It stayed 6-3 until the bottom of the fifth when Addington reached on a fielder's choice, Robertson singled and Luna had a two-run single, making it 6-5 and setting up the seventh-inning dramatics.
Coleman finished the game 2 for 2 with 2 RBIs, Luna was 2 for 4 with 2 RBIs, Haris was 1 for 2 with 2 RBIs, Alyssa Warren, Ashley Trefger and Robertson all went 1 for 3 and Addington was 1 for 4.
Jessica Newsome started the game in the pitching circle for the Lady Lions. She went four innings and allowed five runs on six hits with five strikeouts and one walk. McLean came in relief and pitched three innings and allowed one run on three hits with three strikeouts and one walk.
Burns pitched all seven innings for Grayson, allowing seven runs on nine hits with six strikeouts and six walks. Worthington was the top hitter with a 3 for 4 game including a home run and 3 RBIs.
North Central's game with Temple College originally scheduled for Saturday has been pushed back a day to Sunday. The doubleheader will begin at 1 p.m., at Darwin Field in Gainesville.
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