NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Amber Storer singled to center field and drove home the game winner with two outs in the bottom of the seventh Sunday as SIUE softball completed the Purple & Gold Challenge with a 5-4 come-from-behind victory over UMBC.

Kloe Hilbrenner led off the inning with a four-pitch walk and then stole second base off lefty UMBC returning honorable mention All-American Courtney Coppersmith. After Coppersmith got the first two outs of the inning, she was replaced by right-hander Madie Leach. Storer, who was pinch hitting, then jumped on a 1-1 high and inside pitch from Leach that propelled Hilbrenner home.

"My first thought was to be aggressive and get ahold of the first pitch in the strike zone," said Storer. "I knew my team had my back no matter what."

"That was a huge at-bat," said SIUE Head Coach Jessica Jones. "She was ready, and she performed."

The Cougars started off slow against Coppersmith offensively and defensively. The UMBC sophomore provided an RBI single in the third and a solo home run in the fifth to put the Retrievers up 3-0.

"She is a good player. We have a lot of respect for her," said Jones. "They are a different team behind her."

Coppersmith held SIUE scoreless for four innings and was replaced by Gillian McCarthy in the circle in the fifth.

Lexi King led off the fifth with her first collegiate home run, a blast to right field. SIUE would tie the score 3-3 in the fifth as Alana Cobb-Adams walked, stole second and scored on a double by Zoe Schafer. Abby Marlow, who hit .529 for the weekend, would drive home pinch runner Amara Wylie with a single up the middle.

SIUE grabbed its first lead in the bottom of the sixth when Conner Cutright doubled and moved to third on a wild pitch. King drove home Cutright on a sacrifice fly.

UMBC tied up the score in the top of the seventh when Julia Keffler tripled and scored off a wild pitch by King, who would earn the win by throwing the final two-plus innings in relief of Emily Ingles.

That set up the bottom of the seventh for the Cougars, which improved to 10-3. UMBC fell to 3-6.

"I'm proud of how the girls came back," said Jones. "They showed some fight. It's hard to come back like that."

SIUE now moves on to the Wildcat Invitational in Tucson, Arizona. During the three-day tournament beginning Friday, the Cougars will face Indiana, Boise State twice, host Arizona and South Dakota.