WICHITA, Kan. - Paige Luellen hit a three-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to lift the Wichita State softball team to a 7-6 victory over Western Illinois at Wilkins Stadium to close out the Wichita State Tournament.
Luellen also moved into first place for career RBI's in the Shocker record book on the walk off.
Bailey Lange got the start in the circle and matched her strikeout season high with nine but it would be the Leathernecks who would take the early lead scoring two runs in the top of the second. A triple and a single got runners on the corners, an error scored the first and another single added the second. A swinging strikeout and a ground out ended the inning for Lange.
The Shocker bats responded in the bottom half of the inning with a two-out solo shot from
Caitlin Bingham cutting the score to 2-1.
Lange began to settle into the game, sitting down the Leathernecks in order in the third before leading off with a single in the bottom half.
Mackenzie Wright and
Ryleigh Buck both grounded out to get Lange to third followed by a deep double into left field from
Laurie Derrico to tie the score at 2-2.
In the fourth, the Shockers took the lead.
Asea Webber drew a one-out walk with
Caitlin Bingham reaching on an error by the shortstop; both advanced a base on the throw.
Bailee Nickerson followed up by reaching on another fielder's choice with Webber out at home on the play. Lange stepped up in the next at-bat with a first pitch double into right center to get two home and give the Shockers a 4-2 lead.
In the fifth she struck out her sixth and seventh batters in the second 1-2-3 of the day for the Shocker defense, but in the sixth the Leatherneck bats came back alive. A single, walk and another single quickly loaded the bases with a throwing error cutting the Shockers' lead to 4-3. Another walk tied the game and a single through the middle gave the Leathernecks a 6-4 lead.
The Shocker bats went quiet in the sixth but Lange reached second on an error in left field in the bottom of the seventh. Wright drew the walk to get two on and a Buck sac bunt advanced the runners to set up the historic finish for Luellen. The first pitch she crushed the ball to center for the win.
Lange got the win, moving to 8-4 on the year, with Wichita State moving to 14-8 and will now look to the Creighton Tournament next weekend where they will face both the Bluejays and the Iowa Hawkeyes in Omaha, Neb.
