MEMPHIS—The Christian Brothers University Lady Bucs pounded out 22 hits and scored 14 runs as they split a Gulf South Conference doubleheader against Delta State Tuesday afternoon, losing 8-5 in eight innings in the first game but winning 9-6 in the nightcap.

The Lady Bucs (14-16, 4-8 GSC) rallied twice in the opener.  After DSU (22-15, 8-8) took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second, the Lady Bucs scored a pair of two-out runs in the bottom of the inning to tie the game.  Casey King (Flower Mound, Texas/Flower Mound HS) hit a leadoff double and moved to third on an Alyse Brewer (Florence, Ala./Florence HS) single.  Brooke Davis (Southaven, Miss./Southaven HS) hit an RBI double, and Lauren Dorsett (Mufreesboro, Tenn./Blackman HS) followed with an RBI single to tie the game.

DSU scored three runs in the sixth inning on three two-out doubles and a walk to break the tie, but the Lady Bucs again had an answer, this time in the bottom of the seventh.

Davis was hit by a pitch with one out to start the rally, and after a wild pitch and a passed ball, Dorsett singled up the middle to bring the Lady Bucs within two.  Kathleen Nelson (Bartlett, Tenn./Bolton HS) reached on a fielding error on a bunt, and Jessica Ambers (Collierville, Tenn./Collierville HS) singled through the right side to load the bases.  Kaylea Brewer (Pulaski, Tenn./Giles County HS) hit an RBI groundout, and King smoked a grounder through the right side to bring Nelson home for the tying run.  Ambers came home for the winning run, but DSU centerfielder Christa Richard made a perfect throw home to tag Ambers out at the plate.

Richard followed by scoring the winning run in the top of the eighth.  She reached on a bunt single and scored on a Brooke Allgood hit.  A pair of wild pitches pushed two more runs across to set the final score.  The Lady Bucs rallied again in the bottom of the inning, loading the bases with two out before the game ended on a strikeout.

Dorsett, King, and Ambers collected two hits each in the opener as CBU posted nine hits in the game.

The Lady Bucs' bats stayed alive in the nightcap.  In the bottom of the first, they loaded the bases for Davis, who blasted a three-run double to right-center before being tagged out trying to advance to third.  The Lady Bucs kept the lead throughout.

DSU scored a run in the second, but the Lady Bucs used two-out RBI singles from Dorsett and Emily Schmidt (Olive Branch, Miss./Center Hill HS) to push their lead to 5-1.  DSU scored twice in the fourth to cut the lead to 5-3, but again, CBU answered an inning later with two fifth-inning runs on a two-out two-run single by Michelle McEachron (Carlsbad, Calif./La Costa Canyon HS), her first hit and her first two RBI's as a Lady Buc.

Richard capped a five-hit day with her first career home run, a three-run blast to right field that brought the Lady Statesmen within a run in the top of the sixth inning.

Yet again, the Lady Bucs had an answer in the bottom of the sixth to give Leigh Ann Henry (Nashville, Tenn./David Lipscomb HS) some breathing room for her first career save.  Kaylea Brewer (Pulaski, Tenn./Giles County HS) and King started the inning with back-to-back doubles, and Davis hit an RBI single to right-center to set the final margin at 9-6.

Henry struck out two in the seventh as she finished off the save, allowing a hit and a hit batter in an inning and a third.  McEachron (7-6) picked up the win out of the bullpen, allowing three runs in two innings of relief after Brewer had allowed three in three and two-third innings.

Davis went 3-for-4 with four RBI to lead the Lady Bucs in the second game.  Dorsett, Ambers, and Nelson collected two hits each.  King and Kaylea Brewer scored twice, while McEachron added two RBI.

The Lady Bucs hit the road later this week to face Arkansas-Monticello in a GSC series.  Thursday's doubleheader is at 2 p.m., while Friday's doubleheader is scheduled for noon.  The Lady Bucs' next game in Memphis is set for next Tuesday night at 6 p.m. as they face Rhodes in a doubleheader at Collierville High School.