DECATUR, Ala. – Heroics at the death for the Lady Crusaders as they knock off Faulkner 8-7 in their opening game of the SSAC Conference Tournament.
 
"What a game!"  claimed an emotional Craig Fletcher following the game. "The girls showed a lot of heart and grit. There was no quit in this group today."
 
Carey found themselves in a hole early. A leadoff single by SSAC Player of the Year Chloe Davidson was followed by a homerun from Addyson Jarman to put the Lady Eagles ahead 2-0. A walk and two singles from Gracie Pittman & Sarah Williams were enough to get another run across the plate and finish out the inning with a 3-0 lead.
 
Faulkner began to make that hole bigger in the third as they extended their lead. Similar to the opening of the first inning, a single and a home run gave the Lady Eagles another two runs on the board. This time Madelyn Becker provided the single before Pittman sent one over the left-field wall to put the Lady Eagles up 5-0 after 2 ½ innings.
 
Carey's offense started to show signs of life in the bottom of the 4th. A leadoff walk from Albanie Fussell was immediately followed by a home run from Julia Shaw to put Carey's first two runs of the game on the board. However, three straight outs quickly ended the inning, but not before giving WCU hope of a comeback.
 
The Lady Crusaders looked to pick up where they left off in the previous inning and continued to chip away at the Lady Eagle lead. A Liz Cross single and a Lilli Robertson walk put runners on 1st and 2nd. Laila Clark singled down the left field line to score Cross and keep runners on 1st and 2nd. Albanie Fussell reached on a fielder's choice to put runners on the corners but unfortunately couldn't get any more across the plate. Carey, now down just two, were putting pressure on the Faulkner defense and looked to claw it back further with just two innings remaining.
 
The Carey fightback seemed to have inspired the Lady Eagles as they responded with a couple runs of their own in the top of the 6th. A single and a walk put runners on first and second before a sac bunt from Kelbi Johnson advanced both runners into scoring position. A single from Davidson promptly scored both runners and put the Lady Eagles up 7-3 with an inning and a half to play.
 
Bottom of the 7th, final half inning of the game and Carey needing four runs to tie the game. Carey took advantage of having the top of the order up first, as they got the speedy Cross & Robertson on base early thanks to successive walks. Laila Clark sent a hit into the ground, bouncing over the first baseman's head to get herself on base. Bases loaded and Fussell sent a sac fly to center field to score Cross and give WCU hope. Back-to-back outs meant Carey were now three runs down and only had one more out to play with. Ryanne Hornsby drew the walk from Faulkner Pitcher Davidson to load the bases again and give the Lady Crusaders a glimmer of hope.
 
"On deck before my last at bat, I noticed that they weren't planning on throwing the hitter before me (Hornsby) anything to hit. I knew in my head that I was going to have to hit it again. My last three at bats, my timing was on, and I saw the ball well, but I kept getting under it." Reflected Harper Dupre before coming to the plate. "It would have been easy to be discouraged, but when I saw my dad in the stands and my teammates in the dugout, I knew God was going to provide one way or another in that moment. I worked myself into an 0-2 count, and when she threw the third pitch outside I knew the time had come. I've been in a serious slump, but that moment meant everything. I'm still in shock. I couldn't be more grateful."
 
Freshman Dupre, 0-3 on the day, steps up and rips a double to right-center, scoring all three, tying the game at 7-7.
 
"With two outs, the game on the line, the winning run on second, and having gone 0-3 in my previous at bats, I felt I had to dig deep and come through for the team to advance in the winner's bracket" said Maddison Gray about what was going through her head before her last at bat.
 
Still two outs, and with a runner in scoring position, up stepped another freshman in Madison Gray who was also 0-3 on the day. With the game looking like it was going to extra innings; Gray sent a single to right-center to bring Dupre across home plate for the walk off win for the Lady Crusaders.
 
Carey will now face No.7 Brewton Parker tomorrow at 12 PM at the Wilson Morgan Softball Complex in Decatur, Ala.