SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Despite finding themselves with leads in both games, the Converse University softball team (2-4) fell in both games on Sunday to close out the 2024 Valkyrie Classic. They first fell to in-state foe Limestone (4-0) by a final score of 13-6 before narrowly falling to the Mars Hill Lions (4-2) 6-5 in eight innings.

Junior Riley Lingerfelt received the loss in both games for the Valkyries. She threw eight innings across two games. Freshman Madison Davis led the Valkyries in RBIs in the first game with two while four Valkyries each posted one against the Lions.

Game One: Limestone 13, Converse 6

The Valkyries got off to a hot start after holding Limestone scoreless in the top of the first. Davis notched her first RBI of the game with a single up the middle to score sophomore Ayellad Howard who tripled to lead off the bottom of the first. Sophomore Chesney Miles, running for Davis, scored after stealing second when junior Sydney Watson knocked her own RBI single into right field, giving Converse an early 2-0 lead.

In the second inning, with runners at first and second, Howard sacrificed themself to put two runners in scoring position. The sacrifice was not in vain as three consecutive Valkyries hit one-RBI singles, bringing the lead to 5-0 heading into the third.

In the third, Howard picked up their own RBI with a single through the left side, bring the Valkyries' lead to 6-0.

After an inside-the-park homerun cut the lead to 6-1 in the fourth, Limestone scored 12 unanswered runs and won the game 13-6.

Game Two: Mars Hill 6, Converse 5 (8 Innings)

The story was not the same in the second game as Mars Hill jumped off to an early 2-0 lead by plating two runs in the first and added another in the third to bring the score to 3-0 heading into the fourth, the way it remained until the fifth inning.

Sophomore AJ Albano got the scoring started by knocking a triple into the outfield to score Howard from their second double of the day. Albano came across home plate when sophomore Karleigh Crabill singled through the left, who, in turn, scored on the next at bat when Watson doubled into right-center field. Heading into the sixth inning, Converse had tied the game at three runs each.

Converse took their first lead of the game after a wild pitch in the sixth inning. The lead did not last long as a bases-loaded walk in the top of the seventh retied the game at four runs each.\

While the Valkyries did score a run in the bottom of the eighth inning, it wasn't enough to catch up to the two scored by the Lions in the top of the inning, and the Valkyries fell 7-6.

Converse is back on the diamond on Saturday, Feb. 10 as they take on Saint Leo and Edward Waters in the first day of the Old Coast Classic hosted by Flagler College.

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