By: There wasn’t much to separate the two sides, but Monmouth came away with 4-2 and 4-3 wins over Illinois College on Tuesday afternoon.
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Box Score 2
MONMOUTH, Ill. – The Illinois College softball team suffered a pair of losses to Monmouth College on Tuesday afternoon in a Midwest Conference doubleheader, falling to the Scots by scores of 4-2 and 4-3. Monmouth improves to 16-8 (10-2 MWC), while the Lady Blues drop to 12-8 (4-4 MWC).
The Lady Blues immediately return to action tomorrow afternoon in another MWC doubleheader, hosting Knox College at Jessica Kamp Softball Field to make up a postponed doubleheader from last week. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.
Game One: Monmouth 4, Illinois College 2
All six runs were scored in the first two inning as Monmouth battled back from two one-run deficits to take the opener between the teams. Liz Hippen threw a complete game to improve to 8-4, while
Amanda Price took the loss despite her complete game, moving to 4-3 on the year.
Illinois College took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first as
Jackie Reilly hit a one-out double and then scored on a two-out single by
Lea Hall. Monmouth came back to tie the game at 1-1 on a one-out single before Price got out of the inning with a strikeout and a pop-up to
Elyce Trout at second base.
The Lady Blues took another lead in the second inning as
Kinzie Verhines started things off with a walk, stole a base and then moved to third on a
Katie Prizer single. With two away,
Shelby Koehler brought the senior home for a 2-1 edge.
In the bottom half of the second, the Scots took the lead for good. Johnna Schultz hit a double to lead off the inning and back-to-back singles tied the score at 2-2. With two outs in the inning, Michaela Guthrie doubled to bring two more runs in.
That was all the help Hippen needed. Though Illinois College collected 10 hits in the game, Hippen also struck out nine batters and cruised through the third, fourth and fifth innings. The Lady Blues loaded the bases in the sixth but came away empty and then brought the tying run to the plate in the seventh but ended the game on a groundout to third.
Prizer led the Lady Blues with three hits in the game, while Koehler, Reilly and Hall all had two hits apiece. Price gave up four runs (three earned) in 6.0 innings while striking out two.
Game Two: Monmouth 4, Illinois College 3
Just as in the first game, Illinois College took the lead early on in the second game of the day, but Monmouth came back and held on late for the victory.
Mariah Hedges suffered her first loss of the season to fall to 5-1 on the year.
Things started out on the right foot after Koehler singled and scored with two outs on a Trout single. The Lady Blues then doubled the lead in the third on a Prizer home run to make it 2-0.
Monmouth didn't have much going for the first two innings but managed two runs in the bottom of the third to knot the score. A bases-loaded single by Charlotte Park with two outs scored both runs. The Scots then took the lead for good in the fourth on a double by Emily Siefken and a single by Kirstyn Ozga, making it a 4-2 ballgame.
Illinois College had baserunners in the fifth and sixth but couldn't scrape anything together to score a run. In the seventh,
Marissa Knowles singled to start the inning and
Hannah Knapper followed with a double to score pinch-runner
DJ Troli after an error by Maggie Hayes. That spelled the end of the day for Monmouth pitcher Kaylee Kurtz and Hippen entered the game to close it out. She retired the next three hitters to earn her fourth save of the year.
Of the seven hits in the game for IC, Knapper led the Lady Blues with two and five others had one. Hedges struck out four and walked one, allowing eight hits to the Scots.
