SPARTANBURG, S.C. – In the bottom of the seventh inning, junior Megan Hillard laid down a bunt in the final at-bat for a suicide squeeze sending home sophomore Caitlin Steel and notching the solo run of the game to give the UNC Pembroke softball team the shutout victory, 1-0, over Mount Olive on Friday evening on the opening day of the Mid-South Classic.

The victory snapped a three-game losing streak for UNCP (9-6) and gave the Lady Braves the 2-1 advantage in the series against Mount Olive (8-11) this year. The Trojans dropped their third-consecutive match including a loss in their first game of the tournament to North Georgia.

Sophomore Whitney Jackson logged the first hit of the game with a double to left center in the fourth inning, but was left on third at the end of the inning. In the bottom of the fifth, senior Shelby Hollard reached first on a base hit to right field and again was left on third to close out the inning. 

Finally in the bottom of the seventh, Steel advanced to first on a fielding error by the second baseman, and was brought the bases on a sacrifice bunt by Holland and an error on the first baseman on junior Brea Hartley's at-bat to put runners on the corners. The walk off win was scored by Steel as Hillard bunted to force the out at first and conclude the contest with Steel crossing home plate for the win.

Senior Natalie Klemann (4-2) pitched her fifth complete game of the season after spending all seven innings in the middle for the Black and Gold. The Apex native struck out a trio of batters, gave up one walk and three hits in 24 at-bats.

Mount Olive also tallied three hits during the contest from three different batters and had two runners in scoring position, but the UNCP defense denied any opportunity to score a run. Pitcher Lauren Smith (3-4) finished 6-2/3 innings with three strikeouts and one unearned run on three hits for the loss.

The Lady Braves will be back in action on Saturday on the second day of the Mid-South Classic at 2 p.m. when the squad takes on No. 24 Wingate (12-4) followed by Carson-Newman (13-2) at 4 p.m.