CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — Trailing by a run at they stepped to the plate in the top of the sixth, Lincoln collected six runs on eight hits over the final two frames to defeat Robert C. Byrd, 8-3 in the Class AA Region II, Section 1 tournament.
No. 3 seed Lincoln (12-11) will visit top-seeded Philip Barbour Wednesday in the winners bracket final of the sectional tournament.
Six consecutive Cougars reached base in the decisive sixth inning where they scored four times to take a 6-3 lead. Riley Pearlman’s second home run of the game evened the score at 3. Pearlman opened the scoring in the second inning with an inside-the-park homer.
Haleigh Gump, Addison Moore and Haleigh Hyre came through with run-scoring singles in succession in the sixth inning. Lincoln added two more insurance runs in the seventh inning.
Pearlman went 3-for-4 to lead the Cougars’ attack. Alexis Williams, Angelina Wright and Gump each had a pair of hits.
Williams earned the victory in relief of starting pitcher Adriana Elder. Williams tossed 2 2/3 innings of shutout and hitless ball.
Lexi Hardy and Ava Junkins each hit solo home runs for RCB (16-10) in the fifth inning to give the Flying Eagles a 3-2 lead. Byrd will host Liberty Harrison in an elimination game Wednesday.