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Heartbreak for the Tigers.

The Troup softball team was leading 5-2 heading to the bottom of the seventh inning and was just three outs away from a spot in the region 4-4A championship game, but watched the lead slip through their fingers Tuesday. The Tigers fell 8-7 on a walkoff in the ninth inning of a marathon game.

The Wildcats struck first after a jittery Troup defense was not settled down in the first inning. Whitewater put two runs past the Tigers in the first to take a 2-0 lead.

Troup cut the deficit in half in the top of the second when Anna Grace Keller hit a one-run single.

The Tigers had a chance for more runs early but squandered the bases loaded in the first and second inning.

Troup eventually tied the game with a run brought in by a Sheniyah Philpot single. The Tigers had a chance to take the lead on the very same play, but Camdyn Bassett was tagged out at home.

Troup took its first lead of the game in the sixth inning when Anna Grace Keller delivered a one-run double. Three pitches later Kaitlyn Smalley hit her first varsity home run over the centerfield wall to make it 5-2 Tigers.

The Wildcats struck back with three runs in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game, but they left the winning run stranded on third base.

From there, the game only got even wilder.

The Tigers scored two runs in the top of the eighth on a fielder’s choice and a steal of home from Smalley.

Whitewater leveled the game with a monster two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth but once again could not find the winning run as the game went to the ninth inning tied 7-7.

It was truly a game of missed chances for the Tigers as they surrendered six runs over the final three innings.

Offense was not the problem for the Tigers as they outhit the Wildcats 15-11 but could not come up with enough key hits in big moments.

Haley Kitchens, Keller and Philpot all had three hits apiece to lead the offensive charge.

Smalley had a monster game offensively, going 2-for-5 with three RBIs and three runs scored.

Zoe Graham also had two hits while Bassett and Madeira Sirmons had one each.

Keller got the start on the mound, pitching six innings while allowing just six hits on four strikeouts with only two earned runs to her name as her defense let her down on multiple occasions.

The Tigers defense committed a whopping five errors in the game.

Bassett came in to relieve Keller and pitched two innings.

Troup will play Trinity Christian in the third-place game on Thursday. Regardless of the outcome of that game, the Tigers will be on the road in the 4A state playoffs.