Softball Closes 2015 with Sweep of Knox

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – The Illinois College softball team celebrated Senior Day for Brittany Fanella, Emily Hawkins, Samantha Hereley, Paige Hughey, Briana Iosco, Courtney Kwasnitza and Betsy Wagers in the best way possible. The Lady Blues smothered the Knox Prairie Fire in a doubleheader on Sunday, claiming a pair of victories and needing only five innings in each game to do so. A 12-run inning paved the way to a 15-0 win in the opener and IC completed the sweep with a 17-5 triumph to end the season on a high note.

Illinois College ends its 2015 season at 14-19 (6-9 Midwest Conference).

Game One: Illinois College 15, Knox 0
Two runs in the bottom of the first inning set the tone, but a 12-run second inning left no doubt as Illinois College started the day with a five-inning annihilation of Knox. 

Knox actually threatened to start the game, putting runners on second and third with two outs against IC starter Amanda Price. But Price ended the inning by getting Alannah Sanchez swinging and the Lady Blues got their offense going right away in the bottom of the first.

Knox shortstop Kaly Davidson dropped a high pop fly off the bat of Hereley in the first inning, putting the senior second baseman aboard with one out. Sierra McDonald followed with a double to put two on and Fanella tripled to the gap in left-center to give the Lady Blues a 2-0 lead.

In the second inning, Illinois College completely put the game away. Wagers led off the inning with a walk and Lanie Thompson reached on an error on a bunt. With those two in scoring position, Hereley brought them home on a RBI single. Later on, the bases were loaded and Fanella singled home two runs on a grounder down the first base line, making it 6-0. Hughey added a RBI single to bring it back around to Wagers, who delivered another RBI single to up the lead to 8-0. Before the inning was over, Hawkins, Kwasnitza, McDonald, Maddie Shore and Fanella would add RBIs to give the Lady Blues an astonishing 14-0 advantage after two innings.

That was the end of the day and the season for Price on the mound. Her two innings of work were enough to give her the win, ending her year at 8-6. Thompson took over and shut out the Prairie Fire over the final three innings. 

Illinois College added one final run in the bottom of the third. The bases were loaded with no outs for Kwasnitza and her groundout to second base brought Hughey home to make it a 15-0 lead. The Prairie Fire never mounted a serious threat after that and the game ended in the fifth inning when Wagers made a catch on a fly ball to right field.

Fanella ended the first game 4-for-4 at the plate with six RBIs. McDonald was 3-for-3 with three runs scored and Hereley, Hughey and Wagers all had two hits apiece.

Game Two: Illinois College 17, Knox 5
After a shutout in the day's first game, Illinois College actually trailed momentarily in the final game of the season. Knox put three runs on the board in the top of the first, but the Lady Blues came back with seven runs of their own in the bottom of the first and controlled the action from there.

Leah Shumaker struggled early with her control and Knox was able to walk in a run to take a 1-0 lead before a two-run single made it 3-0. Hannah Knapper ended the inning by making a good stop on a hard-hit ball down the third base line to get IC back to the plate.

Facing Kristen Koviekis, the Lady Blues got to work right away. Kwasnitza led off the inning with a double to right-center and McDonald tripled after a Hereley walk, bringing two runs home. McDonald then scored on a wild pitch to tie the game at 3-3 before an out had been recorded. From there, Fanella doubled and scored on a Knox error to take a 4-3 lead and Shumaker helped her cause with a sacrifice fly deep into center field. Hawkins would later score on a passed ball and Kwasnitza added a run on another sac fly to give IC a four-run edge.

Shumaker settled in after that and put the Prairie Fire down in order while having a hand in all three outs. McDonald tripled to open the bottom of the second inning and scored on a Fanella RBI groundout to make it 8-3 after two innings.

Knox scored once in the third inning, but Illinois College responded with three more runs in the bottom of the third to up the lead to 11-4. The bases were loaded for with one out for McDonald and an error on the second baseman allowed one run to come in. Fanella earned a walk to plate another run and a Hughey single brought another run in before Hawkins was robbed on a lined shot directly at the Knox third baseman.

The Lady Blues put the game away in the bottom of the fourth with six more runs to take a 17-5 lead. Shumaker led off the inning and reached via an error on the shortstop. She would eventually come in to score on nothing more than wild pitches to make it 12-5. The bases were loaded for McDonald later in the frame and she cleared them with a triple to right-center to give IC a double-digit lead at 15-5. Fanella brought her home on a double off the wall in right field and Hughey plated the final run with a sacrifice fly to bring Fanella in from third.

Trying to keep the game alive in the fifth inning, Knox loaded the bases but Shumaker struck out Koviekis swinging to end the game and get the victory.

Thanks to nine free passes from the Prairie Fire, the Lady Blues only outhit Knox by a 10-7 margin. McDonald led IC with a 3-for-4 game at the plate, setting a new single-game Illinois College record with three triples. Kwasnitza and Fanella ended with two hits in the game each.