SALEM, Va. – Down to their final strike at a rainy Moyer Sports Complex, the West Liberty University softball team used a pair of two-out lightning strikes to keep their season alive with a 4-3 walk-off win over Davis & Elkins in a Mountain East Conference Tournament thriller here Friday.
    Weather permitting, West Liberty (33-20-1) will be back on the diamond Saturday at noon for an elimination game against the University of Charleston (28-22).
    After dropping a 3-1 upset verdict to West Virginia State in Friday morning's tournament opener, Coach Herb Minch's two-time defending MEC Tournament champion Hilltoppers found themselves trailing D&E, 3-2, in the seventh inning of an elimination game.
    Sidney Little's one-out single put the tying run on base and Annie Paterson's infield grounder moved her up to second. Freshman Jairika Baylor fouled off two straight fastballs before lofting a two-out, two-strike pitch into no-man's land just over the second base bag.
    A desperation dive by the Senators' centerfielder came up empty and Little scored easily to tie the game and bring Katie Beeman to the plate. The senior centerfielder took a pitch high for a ball and then sent an outside fastball rocketing toward the left-centerfield fence.
    The ball slammed into the base of the fence as the speedy Baylor sprinted home with the game-winning run, touching off an exuberant on-field celebration for the Black and Gold and bringing Davis & Elkins' season to an excruciating end.
    Makenzie Amend fired four innings of shutout relief to get the win for WLU – her 17^th of the season – giving up just two hits while striking out 5 and walking two in her second impressive outing of the day. Baylor had a double and single and scored two runs while Little also singled twice. Beeman had a sacrifice fly to go along with her game-winning double.
    In the opener, the Hilltoppers appeared to be cruising after scratching out an unearned run in the bottom of the second with Amend blanking the Yellowjackets on two hits while posting 10 strikeouts through the first four frames.
    But in the top of the fifth, West Virginia State loaded the bases against reliever Taylor Bonnett with an error and two bunts before Paige Scruggs brought all three home with a ringing double to left-center.
    West Liberty brought the tying runs to the plate in the sixth and seventh innings but couldn't break through against State's Kasey Murphy. The WVSU righthander went the distance for the win, striking out five and walking two while scattering seven hits.
    Little had a double and two singles to account for three of WLU's hits and Riley Bennington doubled in a losing cause.
  W.Va. State                            000 030 0 - 3  4  1
West Liberty                          001 000 0 - 1  7  1
     WVS: Murphy wp (5SO, 2W) and Lambert. Scruggs D, 3rbi
     WLU: Amend (10SO, 2W), Bonnett lp (5) (0SO, 0W) and Holbrook. Little D, 2S; Bennington D
  Davis & Elkins                        003 000 0 - 3  5  0
West Liberty                          000 002 2 - 4  8  1
     D&E: Hile lp (3SO, 3W) and Holt. Holt D, rbi; Allard S, rbi
     WLU: Paterson (6SO, 2W), Amend wp (4) (5SO, 2W) and Holbrook, McCroskey (5). Baylor D, S, rbi; Little 2S; Beeman D, 2rbi