By: Illinois College was able to shrug off a disappointing 4-3 loss to Muskingum and come back in its Florida finale for a 3-0 victory over Husson.
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Box Score 2 KISSIMMEE, Fla. – The Illinois College softball team split its final day in the Sunshine State, dropping a 4-3 ballgame to Muskingum University in its afternoon contest but rallying behind the pitching performance of
Mariah Hedges to earn a 3-0 win over Husson University.
Now 5-3 on the season, Illinois College will have two weeks without a game before diving back into action with a doubleheader on March 25 at the newly-renovated Jessica Kamp Softball Field. The Lady Blues will host Iowa Wesleyan University starting at 1:30 p.m., with a field dedication ceremony slated for the break in between games.
Game One: Muskingum 4, Illinois College 3For the second game running after a loss to Central, Illinois College took a lead into the seventh inning before giving up two runs to come up short. The beneficiary on Friday was Muskingum, who took advantage of IC pitching to score two unearned runs in the bottom half of the inning to squeak out a 4-3 victory.
Muskingum took a lead in the bottom of the first inning after lead-off hitter Melissa Maiorano doubled to the right-center field gap. She came around to score on a sacrifice bunt and a slow roller to
Natalie Halpin at second base, giving the Muskies a 1-0 edge.
Though
Kinzie Verhines reached in the second on bunt single and stole two bases to move to third, she was ultimately stranded before she could tie the game. In the bottom half of the second inning, Muskingum loaded the bases with two down in the inning and Maiorano singled through the right side of the infield to bring a run in, making it 2-0.
Illinois College got the bats going in the top of the fourth.
Katie Prizer and
Lea Hall led off the inning with solid singles and
Elyce Trout laid down a sacrifice bunt in hopes of moving Hall and pinch-runner
Mickalah York up a station. The Muskies opted to try to get York at third however, and the junior beat the throw to the bag to load the bases with no outs. Against a drawn-in infield, Verhines singled up the middle to make it 2-1 and end the day of Muskingum starting pitcher Dakota DeAmicis.
Reliever Sarah Browning first faced
Hannah Knapper and the Muskie shortstop, Cassie Thomas, tried to throw home, only for Hall to beat the throw and tie the game at 2-2, leaving the bases loaded again. Thomas was successful with her next attempt however, getting Trout out at home after
Marissa Knowles hit a tapper back to the middle of the infield.
Abby Campbell drove in the go-ahead run with one out, rolling a grounder to shortstop that left Thomas with only the option of tagging out pinch-runner
Dakota Swingler. Campbell reached first and drove in Verhines to give IC the 3-2 lead.
Amanda Price kept Muskingum off the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth and then retired the Muskies in order in both the fifth and the sixth. After Amber Bova singled through the left side to lead off the seventh, Price's day was done though.
Lanie Thompson came on to try to retire the Muskies and get the Lady Blues the victory.
Following a walk, Muskingum has two on with no outs and a grounder to
Shelby Koehler at shortstop moved both runners into scoring position with one down. A passed ball scored the tying run before Thompson got Jessica Matthews to ground out to Knapper for the second out. With the winning run 60 feet away, a pitch got away from Thompson and went over the head of Hall behind home plate. Maiorano was moving with the pitch and beat the tag attempt to give the Muskies the come-from-behind win.
Jackie Reilly, Hall and Verhines ended with two hits apiece in the game for the Lady Blues. Thompson took the loss to fall to 1-1 on the season.
Game Two: Illinois College 3, Husson 0For the second year in a row, Illinois College met Husson and came away with a shutout victory. Hedges was the hero in the circle for the Lady Blues, improving to 3-0 on the year after giving up only three hits in a complete-game performance.
The game was shaped largely by the excellent defense at third base from both teams. Knapper's Husson counterpart, Sami Cyr, made play after play to deny runs for the Lady Blues, but Knapper was a magnet as well. Neither team committed an error in the game, and that can be traced back to Cyr – who had three putouts and five assists – and Knapper – who had two putouts and five assists of her own.
Illinois College jumped ahead in the bottom of the second inning with what turned out to be the game-winning run. Trout got aboard with a one-out walk and stole second. With two down in the inning, Knowles doubled to left field to drive her in for a 1-0 edge.
Despite the Eagles putting runners on base due to walks, Hedges was always able to work her way out of trouble. After the Lady Blues took the lead, Husson left the bases loaded in the third and also stranded runners in scoring position in the fourth and the fifth.
Illinois College scored two vital insurance runs in the bottom of the fifth. With two down and no outs, Koehler singled and stole second to keep the inning going for Reilly, whose innocent-looking pop fly found a hole in right field for a double to plate Koehler. Prizer followed that with a single to right to bring the speedy Reilly around for a 3-0 lead.
That was all the help Hedges would need. Though Husson was able to work the count and draw a walk in both the sixth and seventh, neither runner advanced past first base and the Lady Blues closed out their swing through Florida with an emphatic win.
In her seven innings of work, Hedges struck out five while allowing only the three hits. Illinois College ended with seven hits in the game. Verhines had two and Koehler, Reilly, Prizer, Hall and Knowles all had one apiece.
