STARKVILLE, Miss. – Macie Wheeler's groundout in the top of the eighth inning drove in Elizabeth Everingham with the go-ahead run, and Saint Louis held on to defeat Middle Tennessee State 9-8 Saturday morning at Mississippi State's Bulldog Kickoff Classic.

The Billikens (3-0) broke a 5-5 tie with two runs in the sixth and added an insurance tally in the seventh. However, Middle Tennessee (0-2) plated three runs in the bottom of the seventh to force extra frames.

Everingham led off the eighth with a single, her third hit of the day and one of 18 Saint Louis safeties. She went to third on Mackenzie Peter's one-out single and scored on Wheeler's ground ball to the second baseman.

Winning pitcher Maddie Baalman (2-0) allowed a two-out single in the bottom half but recorded the final out on a popup.

Alex Nickel led the Billikens with a school-record-tying four hits. Everingham was joined in the three-hit column by Peter and Alyssa Tarquinio; Allie Macfarlane collected two hits; and Emma Buckles, Lindsay Friedman and Josie Knesel picked up one hit apiece.

Macfarlane had three RBIs, Tarquinio and Knesel notched two RBIs apiece, and Peter and Wheeler each drove in a run.

After entering the circle to begin the fourth inning, Baalman yielded three runs, eight hits and just one walk while striking out four.

After MTSU grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first, Saint Louis scored four times in the third. Singles by Nickel, Friedman and Everingham loaded the bases with nobody out. Macfarlane's infield single drove home the tying run, and Peter put the Billikens on top with a single.

The Blue Raiders finally registered an out on a force play at home, but Tarquinio followed with a single that gave SLU a 3-1 lead. Knesel's sacrifice fly completed the scoring.

MTSU retaliated with its own four-run outburst in the bottom of the third to regain the upper hand, 5-4. That's where it stayed until the fifth, when Knesel's two-out triple made it a new game.

Nickel led off the sixth with a single and moved to second on Everingham's one-out single. Both runners advanced on a passed ball, and Macfarlane came through with a two-run single that gave Saint Louis a 7-5 edge.

The Billikens made it 8-5 in the seventh on Tarquinio's leadoff home run. That run proved necessary as the Blue Raiders rallied in their half of the frame to send the game into extra innings.