CEDARVILLE, Ohio –   Lexie Mullen hit her team-leading eighth home run of the season to help the Kentucky Wesleyan College softball team defeat Cedarville University 11-10 in a Great Midwest Athletic Conference matchup.  The Panthers dropped game one, 5-1.  With the split, the Panthers move to 28-18 overall and 13-7 in conference play.

Game One: Kentucky Wesleyan 1 – Cedarville 5
The Yellow Jackets struck first, scoring a pair of runs in both the second and third inning to jump out to a 4-0 lead.  Kentucky Wesleyan's offense struggled out of the gate with only one base runner in the first three innings.

Courtney Lockwood knocked a single up the middle in the top of the seventh.  Hannah Slack came in to pinch run and scored on a double to left center from Mallory Nease to plate the lone run for the Panthers.

Maci Brown went the distance in her eighth loss of the season, striking out three and allowing five runs off of five this and one walk.

Lockwood was the lone Panther to tab multiple hits in game one, going two-for-three at the plate.  Jaylin Tidwell and Mallory Nease each recorded one hit.

Game Two: Kentucky Wesleyan 11 – Cedarville 10
The Panthers pounded out six hits in the top of the first inning to take a 4-0 lead.  Five straight singles from Jaylin Tidwell, Courtney Lockwood, Lexie Mullen, Mallory Nease and Jamie Tempel plated three runs.  Mullen scored the final run, taking advantage of a throwing error by the Yellow Jackets.

Cedarville scored one run in the bottom of the second but Kentucky Wesleyan pulled away with three runs in the top of the fourth.  Mullen launched a two-run shot to left center, her team-leading eight home run of the season.

Jaclyn Parker and Maddie Dawson drove in one run a piece with doubles in the top of the fifth inning.  In the top of the sixth, Lockwood scored on a single to right field from Tempel, and Parker drove in Mullen with a sacrifice fly to give the Panthers a 11-2 lead in the middle of the sixth.

The Yellow Jackets rallied late, scoring eight runs off of nine hits in the final two innings.  The game-winning run stepped up to the plate with two outs in the bottom of the seventh but a groundout allowed the Panthers to hold on for the one-run win.

Kentucky Wesleyan pounded out 17 hits in game two with Tidwell and Mullen leading the way with two each.  Meredith Daunhauer, Dawson, Lockwood, Nease and Tempel tabbed two hits a piece while Parker had one.  Tempel and Parker each drove in two runs.

Casey Smith picked up her sixth win of the season, striking out two and allowing nine runs off of 10 hits in 6.2 innings pitched.  Autumn Grady earned her first save of the season, pitching the final 0.1 inning and tabbing the final out.

The two teams will close their weekend series with a doubleheader at 11 am CT on Saturday.

Stay up to date on all your Panther news by following @KWCpanthers on Twitter and by liking the "Kentucky Wesleyan College Athletics" Facebook page.