SPRING ARBOR, Mich. – Freshman Ashley Kleinbub proved to be the hero on Friday as her last-inning home run helped Grace's softball team to a split with Spring Arbor.

The Lady Lancers (13-12, 6-6 Crossroads League) dropped the opener 1-0 before winning 7-6 in the second game.

The first game was a pitchers' duel between Grace's freshman Chandler Elliott and SAU's Kaitlyn Sinclair. Elliott tossed a one-run gem, scattering eight hits with one walk in a complete-game performance.

The Cougars (8-14, 2-7 CL) tallied the only run of the game in the third inning, capitalizing off a leadoff double to score.

The Lady Lancers threatened to score in every inning but were unable to punch across a run. Grace left 10 runners on base in the contest, notching six hits with five walks.

Grace had a runner on second base in the first, second, third, fourth and seventh innings, and a runner on third base in the fifth and sixth innings, but the Cougars escaped unscathed each time. In the fifth and sixth innings, the Lady Lancers had runners on second and third base with two outs.

Clarissa Knight was 2-for-3 with a walk, and Elliott batted 2-for-4.

Grace got its revenge in the second game. The Cougars went on top with a run in the bottom of the first, but the Lady Lancers matched it in the second inning when Chelsea Whitesell scored.

Whitesell sparked a big third inning for Grace. Ashley Kleinbub doubled to lead off the inning, and Whitesell blasted a two-run homer on the next at-bat. Alex Shipley came around to score on an error later in the inning to give Grace a 4-1 lead.

The Lady Lancers moved ahead 6-2 with a two-out rally in the fifth. Whitesell's two-out double plated Kleinbub, and Shipley singled in another run on the next at-bat.

The Cougars rallied to tie the game with a four-run outburst in the bottom of the fifth, producing five hits to tie the game.

After neither team broke the tie in the sixth, one swing from Kleinbub proved to be the difference in the contest. The freshman homered on the first pitch of the seventh.

Spring Arbor threatened to tie the game in the seventh with back-to-back singles to start the inning. But Allison Franklin extinguished the threat, striking out the next three batters to secure the win. Franklin pitched 2.2 innings of scoreless relief with six strikeouts.

Kleinbub was 3-for-3 with three runs scored, Whitesell hit 3-for-4 with two runs and three RBIs, and Brittany Melzoni was 2-for-3.

The Lady Lancers will take a shot league-leading No. 19 Indiana Wesleyan on Saturday. The games at IWU will start at 1 p.m.