CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Courtney Pearson pitched seven full innings without allowing a run, Cierra Robinson walked it off for the Royals with a game-winning double, and the Queens University of Charlotte softball team (11-5; 1-1 SAC) took down the No. 7 Carson-Newman University Eagles (14-1; 1-1 SAC) to hand them their first loss of the season. The Royals came up victorious in game one, 1-0, before being outscored in game two, 7-3. 
 
Game One: Queens 1, Carson-Newman 0 
 
Facing the No. 7 team in the country, and a pitcher entering Saturday with a perfect 7-0 record, the Royals countered with ace Courtney Pearson and came out on top, 1-0, in a dramatic finish to Queens' first conference game of the season. 
 
Facing an offense that average just over six runs per game, and one that has scored no less than two runs in a single game this season, Pearson became the first pitcher this season to blank the Eagles, doing so with 7.0 innings of zero runs on only four hits and two walks to go with three strikeouts. Pearson notched her seventh complete game of the season, and third complete-game shutout, and now holds a 1.38 ERA on the season, which is third-best in the South Atlantic Conference (SAC). 
 
Ranking second in ERA in the SAC is Allison Rager (1.18), who the Royals handed a loss to for her first of the season (7-1). Rager, who pitched the full game for the Eagles in game one, held the Royals scoreless into the seventh inning until back-to-back doubles led Queens to its second consecutive walk-off win, both coming with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, for its fifth consecutive win. 
 
Down to one strike remaining, Robinson took a fastball from Rager and drove it to deep left-center field, allowing her teammate, and the hero from Thursday night, Grace Valchar, to score from second base after extending the inning with a two-out double off the bottom of the right field fence. Valchar crossed home plate as her teammates surrounded her at home plate, helping Pearson pick up her seventh win of the season giving Queens a major conference victory to begin its League schedule. 
 
The Royals out-hit the Eagles 7-4 in game one. McKenzie McCullen led Queens with two hits, while Kelly Winter, Syndey Ditto and Sara Ingoldsby each recorded singles to along with the last-inning doubles from Valchar and Robinson.
 
Game Two: Carson-Newman 7, Queens 3 
 
Queens jumped out to a quick lead in game two behind the continuous hot bat of the McCullen, the freshman who has earned her role as the cleanup hitter in the Royals' lineup. McCullen, who went 2-for-3 with two singles in game one, stepped to the plate in the bottom of the first inning and cranked a two-run home run to left field, scoring Winter, for her fifth home run in 16 games to begin her career at Queens. McCullen's .426 batting average is third-best in the SAC this season, and her five home runs are tied for fifth-most in the conference. 
 
While Royals' starting pitcher Shannon McGuire (3-3) shut down the top of the Eagles' lineup in the first inning, Carson-Newman did damage in the following two, striking her for a combined five runs to make it a 5-2 ballgame. The Eagles scored two more runs in the top of the fifth, and despite the Royals getting one run back in the bottom of the frame on a RBI single from Gerlea Patton, they were unable to mount the comeback against one of the top teams in the nation. 
 
Queens finished game two with six hits against Carson-Newman pitcher Lacie Rinus, who improves to 6-0 on the season. The Eagles tallied two more hits than the Royals, finishing with eight. 
 
Queens will return to action on Tuesday with a doubleheader, once again at home, when it hosts Catawba at Park Road Park. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m.