MARSHALL — For six innings Troup held a precarious 1-0 lead over Linden-Kildare on Saturday afternoon at Lady Maverick Field in Marshall in what was a must-win game for Troup.

In the top of the seventh, the Lady Tigers from Cass County went off for four runs as L-K (30-3) went on to down Troup 4-1 and sweep the best-of-three Class 2A Region III semi-final series two games to none — L-K won the opener, 5-0, on Friday afternoon.

Troup (30-8) ends the year having won 30 games and having advanced as far as the regional semi-final round. Both fetes are firsts in the history of Troup softball.

A Josee Ross double that brought Caitlin Tomlin home to score from first accounted for Troup's only run of the game.

Tomlin reached base n a fielder's choice earlier in the inning.

Ross and Bethany Mason (two hits) accounted for all of Troup's hits in the game.

Ross also went the distance in the circle for Troup and fanned four while walking three.

Troup seemed poised to force a Game 3 on Saturday, leading 1-0 going into the bottom of the seventh inning, with L-K's No. 7,8 and 9 batters scheduled.

Ross retired the first L-K batter that she faced, but the next hitter, Logan Wilson, hit a blooper that landed between the back of the circle and the Troup second baseman, which gave L-K a base runner.

Quala Love, was then able to lay a well executed bunt down with the speedy Love able to beat the throw to first, which resulted in an infield hit for Love. The hit moved Wilson up to second.

Taylor Wells was next to bat and the L-K lead-off hitter laced a 3-2 offering from Ross into left field where Troup's Shelby Adkins made a diving attempt to make the catch, but came up just short.

Two runs crossed the plate for L-K as Wells was credited with a triple on the play.

The winners went on to add a couple of more runs before Ross was able to get out of the inning.

Wells got the win in the circle for L-K. She gave up just four hits, struck out eight and walked only one while retiring 16 batters in-a-row after Troup scored its run in the opening segment.

L-K moves on to play Mineola later this week with the winner representing Region III in the upcoming state championships in Austin.

NOTES — Seniors Shelby Adkins and Taylor Martin played their final game in a Troup uniform on Saturday...Troup returns nine players next year, and on top of that, head coach Samanatha Darr says there is a promising crop of 8th graders coming up as well...Darr was assisted by Terrell Knight.