Albany, Georgia-Edward Waters made the trek north to Middle Georgia for a key matchup with Albany State in a make-up contest from their series that was rained out on March 9th. Knowing that a loss would be the death knell for their for their chances at repeating as East Division champions, the Lady Tigers were able to rise to the occasion to earn a 7-5 road victory over the Golden Rams Wednesday afternoon at Golden Rams Field at ASU West Campus.

Edward Waters (36-14, 18-5 SIAC) surrendered the first run of the contest to Albany State (28-16, 16-7 SIAC) on an RBI groundout in the bottom of the first inning. The Purple & Orange retaliated with three runs of their own in the top of the second to claim their first lead of the day. RBI singles from Gracie Mejia, Caitlynne Lamug, and Laura Scott allowed the Lady Tigers to take a 3-1 lead. EWU added another run in the top of the third when Kylah Gardner came home on a wild pitch, stretching the Lady Tiger lead to 4-1. The Golden Rams had their response in the bottom of the third with a two-run homer, and added another run in the bottom of fourth to tie the score up at 4-4.

The score remained tied up until the top of the seventh inning, when with two outs,  Edward Waters was able to plate three runs to once again surge ahead. Kylah Gardner cashed in with an RBI sacrifice fly, then Jade Mention connected on a two-RBI double to left field to give EWU a 7-4 lead. Albany State was able to push one run across in the bottom of the seventh, but EWU was able to hold on to earn a significant late season victory.

Laura Scott, Kylah Gardner, and Jade Mention each earned multi-hit efforts at the plate to pace the Lady Tiger offense. Gracie Mejia, who was called on to pitch due to injuries was able to earn her first win of the season, going 3.0 innings, scattering seven hits, allowing just two earned runs, and struck out two.

Edward Waters officially closes the 2024 campaign on Thursday with another makeup contest, this time against Fort Valley State. A win against the Lady Wildcats will give Edward Waters their second SIAC East Division Crown. First pitch at J. Gardner "Nip" Sams Memorial Park is slated for 1:00pm and will be live streamed on the Edward Waters Athletics YouTube channel.

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