Pinckneyville strikes late to top conference foe Anna-Jonesboro, 5-3

The Lady Panthers did just enough to hang on and top conference foe Anna-Jonesboro 5-3 Tuesday evening, coming up with a pair of solo home runs late from Kylee Kling and Josie Gleason that ultimately made the difference. <br />For the second day in a row Mariah Clark led the way from the circle, gutting throw seven innings of work and allowing three runs (one earned, scattering seven hits and five walks while striking out seven. <br />"We haven't had to throw Mariah much on back to back," Pinckneyville head coach Alan Engelhardt said. "We thought that was the best plan today with them (Anna-Jonesboro) coming to town. She didn't have her best stuff, but she gutted through."<br />Pinckneyville took an early 1-0 lead, as Mayci Doerflein plated Daisy Dudek with a two-out single in the first inning. They tacked on another run in the top of the fourth with another two-out single, this time coming from Kling to plate Megan Mayo who reached on a walk. <br />The Lady Wildcats got it's first offense of the game in the top of the fifth with a solo home run from their leadoff hitter, but Pinckneyville responded as Doerflein came up with her second RBI single of the game. <br />Ahead 3-1, Anna-Jonesboro threatened to take the lead in the sixth. <br />The Lady Wildcats led the inning off with back-to-back singles and Pinckneyville followed up with back-to-back errors, allowing a run to come across and cut the deficit to 3-2 with the bases loaded and no outs. <br />AJ capitalized with an RBI single on the next at bat to tie the game 3-3, but Clark was able to retire the next three batters to keep the game even. <br />Pinckneyville responded in the bottom of the frame, as Kling and Gleason each ripped a solo home run over the left field fence to give them the lead back, 5-3. <br />The Lady Wildcats threatened to tie the game and potentially take the lead in the top of the seventh, reaching with back-to-back walks with one out and advancing to second and third on a wild pitch. <br />But, Clark was able to settle down once again, striking out the next batter and inducing a deep fly ball to center field that Kiya Hagene was able to track down near the fence for the final out. <br />"That was a huge scenario (we pulled) out there (in the top of the sixth)," Engelhardt said. "And then Kiya getting to the ball there at the end (was big) &#8211; I thought that was out off the bat."<br />While not the cleanest performance for Pinckneyville this season, Engelhardt was glad to see his team come through when it counted most. <br />"When we needed to we made enough plays to win today," Engelhardt said. "When we needed to take some swings we pounded a ball a couple balls out. <br />"It's a game of adjustment and when you adjust and take away what they do best, you are going to have success. We did that a little bit (today), but we need to do a little bit more of that (moving forward)."<br />The Lady Panthers move to 15-5 and 7-1 in conference play with the win and will look to increase its win streak to five games with a game at Murphysboro Wednesday (today).