MIDWAY, Ky. - Hours after suffering a third-straight, one-run loss to Oakland City (Ind.), Midway softball was able to turn the tables on its Rivers States West rival to secure a doubleheader sweep Thursday.

Katie Rhodes delivered a walk-off, ninth-inning single to lift the Eagles to a 4-3 win in game two after the offense failed to take advantage of a great pitching performance by Breanna Beach in the opener, a 1-0 loss.

GAME TWO

In the midst of a 16-inning scoreless drought, the Eagle offense finally came through in the fifth, breaking a scoreless tie with a three-run inning. After leading off with a single, Kyra McCall came home three batters later on an RBI single by Tenley Gilbert.

Three batters after that, Sawyer Snodgrass made it 3-0 with a two-run single. The Mighty Oaks got a run back in the sixth, but things seemed to remain in Midway's control.

That changed in the top of the seventh. Following a Madison Shipley single, Jessi Goforth bombed a no-doubt, two-run home run to left field that would send the game to extra innings.

Each team put runners on in their ensuing at-bats, but things remained tied until the ninth. Gilbert led off with a walk, then proceeded to steal second base.

Two batter later, Rhodes singled up the middle, and after centerfielder Alyssa Haynes bobbled the ball, Gilbert was able to comfortably score the winning run.

Ryann Berger had a team-best three hits, while Rhodes and McCall both had two.

GAME ONE

Two days after teammate Anna Duncan tossed a four-hit shutout against Indiana Southeast, Beach nearly equaled her, though a duplicate performance seemed unlikely early.

The Mighty Oaks took a 1-0 lead three batters into the game, then had the bases loaded with one out in the second inning. But after getting out of that jam, Beach was nearly perfect throughout the rest of her three-hit complete game, allowing just one bunt single over the final five-and-two-thirds innings.

Unfortunately, the Eagle offense also mustered just three hits. Midway went just 1-for-14 with runners on base, 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position and didn't have a single batter come to the plate with a runner on third.

The teams both entered and exited the day one game apart in the River States West standings. Oakland City currently sits in third at 15-11, just ahead of the 14-12 Eagles.

However, the Oaks did clinch a tie-breaker over Midway by virtue of their 3-1 head-to-head record. Oakland City defeated the Eagles 6-5 and 10-9 in a previous doubleheader on March 17.

Midway looks to improve its standing this weekend, when it hosts in-state foe Bresica for a Saturday doubleheader. Game one begins at 1 p.m.

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