By: Coming off of two big wins at Carroll on Sunday, the Lady Blues couldn’t keep it rolling, falling to Fontbonne by scores of 7-2 and 4-2.
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Box Score 2
ST. ANN, Mo. – The Illinois College softball team suffered a pair of non-conference losses on the road to Fontbonne University on Tuesday night, falling by scores of 7-2 and 4-2 to the Griffins. The Lady Blues fell to 17-11 for the season, while Fontbonne improved to 16-11.
IC will return to Midwest Conference action this weekend with road doubleheaders at Grinnell and Cornell. First up is two games against the Pioneers in Grinnell, Iowa on April 23 starting at 1 p.m.
Game One: Fontbonne 7, Illinois College 2
Fontbonne controlled the action from the outset in the first game, taking a 3-0 lead after the first inning and increasing it to a 6-0 cushion after three. Madi Leonard went the distance for the Griffins to improve to 12-6, while
Lanie Thompson fell to 3-3 on the season for IC.
All three runs in the first inning came with one away as the bases were loaded for Lindsay Schaefer and she doubled into the right field corner to clear them with a double. In the third inning, Emelia Modglin led off with a solo home run and Diamond Thomas later singled with two runners in scoring position to make it 6-0.
Though Thompson got off to a rocky start, the sophomore didn't have much offense behind her either. The Lady Blues managed only three hits in the game and two of those came in the fourth inning as Illinois College scored its only two runs.
Shelby Koehler led off that frame with a double and
Jackie Reilly singled to put runners on the corners. After
Katie Prizer walked to load the bases,
Lea Hall took a free pass as well to score Koehler. A throwing error by the third baseman with
Elyce Trout up to bat allowed another run to come in, making it 6-2.
Though time was running short for Illinois College, the team was still technically one swing of the bat from tying things up until the bottom of the fifth. Courtney Kedroski homered off of relief pitcher
Amanda Price to up the lead to 7-2 and the Lady Blues would strand four runners in the last two innings to close out the game.
Reilly ended with two of the four hits for IC in the game. Price pitched 3.0 innings of relief, striking out two and giving up just the solo home run in the fifth.
Game Two: Fontbonne 4, Illinois College 2
The nightcap got off to a better start for Illinois College as the Lady Blues briefly took a lead. Three runs by Fontbonne in the second inning put the Griffins back in command however, and IC would not be able to come all the way back.
Leah Shumaker went the distance but took the loss to fall to 2-3 on the season. Michelle Boyer threw the final 4.0 innings for Fontbonne to improve to 2-2.
The bases were loaded with no outs in the first inning for IC, and a Hall sacrifice fly to center made it 1-0 right away. Fontbonne escaped any further damage though, then battled back to take the lead in the bottom of the second.
The first four hitters of the second inning reached for the Griffins either by a hit or a fielder's choice and a sac fly gave Fontbonne a 2-1 lead. A Maddie Cooksey single with two outs turned out to be the difference as that plated the third run of the game for the home team.
Illinois College pulled within one run in the fourth inning as
Marissa Knowles singled to lead off the inning before making way for pinch-runner
Mickalah York. York reached third base with one out and
Abby Campbell singled through the left side of the infield to make it 3-2.
In the sixth, Fontbonne added an insurance run on a sacrifice fly that scored Alleigh Kruse to make it 4-2. In the last trip to the plate for Illinois College, two runners were aboard with two outs but Boyer survived by inducing a popout to shortstop to end the game.
Shumaker went 6.0 innings in the game, giving up 10 hits while striking out one. Prizer led the offense with a 2-for-3 game at the dish.
