Kayden Murray carried Greenwood’s softball team for most of Monday night’s matchup against Logan County at Penny Reece Field.

But when the Lady Gators’ ace right-hander faltered a bit, her teammates were there to pick her up for a 4-3 extra-inning win.

Murray pitched all eight innings for the victory, striking out 17 batters. The Lindsey Wilson signee was downright dominant for stretches against the Lady Cougars, working through four perfect innings and five scoreless before running into trouble in the top of the sixth.

Logan County (4-3) broke up Murray’s no-hit bid when Sydni Blick led off with a clean single to left field. Natalie Cates followed with a bunt that died in front of the plate for an infield single. McKenzie Robinson then hit a sharp liner to center to score Blick to tie the game at 1-all before Haley Burgess slapped another RBI single to center to put the Lady Cougars up 2-1. After allowing four straight singles, Murray struck out the side to strand two runners.

“I was really focused during the game,” Murray said. “I kind of let it go during the sixth, but came right back with it. And I had a team behind me tonight, so that was really good.”

Greenwood freshman Cali Huff erased Logan’s lead on the first pitch leading off the bottom of the sixth, smashing her second solo home run of the night to dead center. Lady Cougars junior starting pitcher Shayla Johnson, who matched Murray’s no-hitter for 3 1/3 innings before Huff unleashed her first blast to right-center in the fourth, escaped further damage with an inning-ending strikeout.

Huff’s two-homer night increased her team-leading total to five home runs this season.

“I don’t really try to hit it out every time,” Huff said. “I just focus on hitting the ball.”

Blick struck again with two outs in the seventh, sending a Murray pitch airborne on a night with the wind blowing out. Blick’s shot carried over the left-field wall, giving the Cougars a 3-2 lead.

Greenwood (4-3) again had an answer, this time from an unexpected source when seventh-grader Molly Spidel – making her first varsity start at shortstop – connected for her first varsity hit, a solo homer to left that again knotted the score.

Spidel was one of several Lady Gators in the lineup due to spring break absences.

“We were missing a lot of kids tonight so we had a pretty young lineup,” Greenwood first-year coach Rodney Bush said. “I had a seventh-grader (Spidel) step up and hit the ball out of the park to keep us in the game. We were missing all of our infield tonight except for our first baseman and we were missing one of the outfielders.”

After Murray mowed down the Lady Cougars with three strikeouts in the top of the eighth, the Lady Gators went to work. Kate Rippy led off with an infield single and Macie Murray followed with another single before Whitaker Massey drew a walk from Logan reliever Hailey Burgess to load the bases with no outs.

Murray got a chance to pinch hit, but Logan shortstop Nora Epley snared her sharp liner to prevent a game-ending hit. That brought back the top of the lineup for Greenwood, and Abigail Byrd got the winning run home by drawing a bases-loaded walk.

Murray earned the win with her complete-game effort.

“Kaden is a stud in the circle and she’s working through some times, working on hitting her spots,” Bush said. “She’s very solid. She was one pitch away I think during the Russellville game of having a perfect game. She hit a batter. She’s just got to continue to work hard, work on her mentality and not let things get her down. She did a good job of that tonight, coming back and closing this thing out for us.”

Greenwood is back in action Saturday with three games at Elizabethtown Sports Park, where the Lady Gators are slated to face Henderson County, Boyle County and Graves County.

Logan County was slated to visit East Robertson (Tenn.) on Tuesday.

LCHS 000 002 10 – 3 5 1

GHS 000 101 11 – 4 9 0

WP: Murray. LP: Burgess.{&end}