It's been quite the second half for the Lincoln softball team.

And the Bulldogs put an exclamation point on that Thursday evening.

Lincoln closed out the regular season with an 11-3 win at home over Skiatook, giving the Bulldogs another win in an impressive second half.

Lincoln (12-18) lost to Prague on Sept. 3 to fall to 2-14 on the season.

Since then?

The Bulldogs are 10-4 since, thanks to a balance of great pitching and timely hitting.

Lincoln has had a strong final week of the regular season, beating Cleveland 8-3 last week, Beggs 9-8 on Monday and closing things out with the win over Skiatook on Thursday.

The Bulldogs now wait for their regional assignment and will begin play in the postseason next week.

LINCOLN 11, SKIATOOK 3

The Bulldogs closed out the regular season in style at home on Thursday night, as Lincoln continued their strong week at the plate, while also riding a great pitching performance, as well.

Lincoln had 10 hits, including a homer by Maddi Stewart, as the Bulldogs pulled away early from Skiatook.

Lincoln led 3-0 through two innings and after Skiatook got on the board in the 3rd, the Bulldogs immediately responded with three more runs to make it 6-1.

Skiatook battled to make it 6-3 with two runs in the 4th, but Lincoln pushed the lead back to four in the bottom half, as Stewart left the yard to deep center, her first homer of the year.

"Everyone on the team was connecting from the plate tonight," said Stewart. "It felt great to have that momentum going into the home run and even better to celebrate it with my awesome teammates."

But the scoring wasn't quite done yet.

In the 6th, Bryleigh Milligan singled to score Stewart, making it 8-3, before Addison Whitmire doubled shortly after to score Azariah Woodruff and Sophie Ellis, stretching the lead to seven.

Two batters later, Kabry Kiger would walk things off, as she tripled on a line drive to center, scoring Woodruff and ending the game.

"'Surrender the past so you'll be able to conquer and endure God's next steps for you,'" said Kiger. "When I was up there to bat, I wasn't thinking about technique or the outcome. I was focused on the ball and staying back. I let the nerves of the outcome turn into the joy of the opportunity."

Haylee Delozier was outstanding on the mound, going all six innings and allowing just seven hits and three unearned runs. She was also 2-for-3 at the plate.

Stewart was 2-for-4 with the double, homer and  three runs scored.

Milligan was 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI in the win.

LINCOLN 9, BEGGS 8

On Monday evening, Lincoln continued its' hot play by winning in dramatic fashion in a walk off over Beggs.

After Beggs scored two runs in the top of the 7th to tie the game at 8-8, Lincoln would have the last say.

Senior Campbell Ryan singled to center to lead off the bottom of the 7th, before Whitmire won the game for Lincoln.

Whitmire drove a fly ball to left and the Beggs outfielder was unable to make the play, as Woodruff, who entered as a courtesy runner for Campbell, came around to score and win the game for Lincoln.

The game was back-and-forth early, as each team scored a run in the 2nd before Lincoln blew things open in the 4th.

The Bulldogs pushed across six runs to take a commanding 7-1 lead.

But Beggs would respond with four runs in the top of the 5th to draw closer. The Demons matched Lincoln's run in the bottom of the 5th with one of their own, making it 8-6.

Lincoln had 13 hits in the win, including a 3-for-3 effort from Brooklyn Malone, who had a double and two RBIs.

Delozier had an RBI triple, while Whitmire was 2-for-4 with an RBI triple in the win.

Jade Summlerin was 2-for-3 with two RBIs, while Sophia Nantz was also 2-for-3.

Ryan was 3-for-4 in the victory. Delozier picked up the win on the mound for Lincoln.

LINCOLN 8, CLEVELAND 3

In last Thursday's win over Cleveland, Lincoln used a huge 6th inning to blow the game open and pull away from the Tigers.

After Lincoln led 2-1 through four innings, the Bulldogs poured on six in the 5th to lead comfortably.

The Bulldogs also got a great pitching performance from Delozier.

Delozier pitched all five innings, allowing just one earned run on two hits and three walks.

She struck out eight Cleveland hitters.

Whitmire was 3-for-3 with an RBI double in the win.

Stewart, Malone and Elizabeth Eddings each had a single and an RBI for the Bulldogs.