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Murray • Strange as it may seem, Murray sophomore Ali Jennings had a pretty good day on Tuesday.

Although Jennings gave up seven runs while pitching, it was enough for a 10-7 victory over Salem Hills in the first round of the Class 4A state softball tournament.

All of the runs for the visiting Skyhawks came in two innings: a three-run blast from Abbie Tuttle in the first and a four-run rally in the fifth.

Jennings, though, held Salem Hills in check in every other frame and that enabled Murray to come back from a 7-6 deficit with four runs of its own in the sixth for the win.

Murray moves into the next round of the winners' bracket of the 4A tournament on Thursday while Salem Hills, which won the state title a year ago, is on the brink of its season ending in the double-elimination tournament.

"For a sophomore, she [Jennings] did a nice job. We've just been working on her composure out there," Murray coach Lisa Parker said. "She came back and did a great job. She had a couple of her best pitches going, and then she lost them for a while and went to other pitches."

Trailing by a run in the sixth, Murray started the frame with tall cleanup hitter Lexie Sprague at the plate.

Sprague promptly slugged a homer the opposite way to right field to tie the game.

"We've actually had to shorten her swing, because she would take a huge, huge swing," said Parker of Sprague, who recorded her 11th long ball of the year. "She doesn't have to swing with everything she's got, because she's so stinking strong."

Salem Hills (11-16), despite Murray having runners on first and third later in the inning, had a chance to get out of the frame with the game still deadlocked.

But a high fly to left by Spartan Josie Harris went off the glove of Skyhawks left fielder Sara Phillips as both runners crossed home. One batter later, Emma Noble tripled in Harris to complete the scoring.

"I think she [Phillips] came in wanting to throw the ball before she caught it. I think that's what happened," Salem Hills coach Jessica Sipherd. "I feel bad. She hasn't made an error all year and it happens here."

Phillips contributed to the fifth-inning rally for the visitors that gave them a one-run lead. With the bases loaded, Kenzie Martin singled into center for two runs to trim Murray's advantage to one. Phillips then got a single to tie the game and that was followed by another RBI single from Jentry Cole for the lead.

"They have a lot of fight and I can't ask for more than that. I'm proud of them," Sipherd said. —

Murray 10, Salem Hills 7

• Murray sophomore Lexie Sprague slugs her 11th home run of the year to tie the game in the sixth.

• Salem Hills' Abbie Tuttle starts the game with a 3-run home run. But the Skyhawks garner only one hit off Murray pitcher Ali Jennings over the next three innings.