Lady Blues Split Home Doubleheader with Grinnell

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – The Illinois College softball team maintained its tie for second place in the Midwest Conference with a split of a doubleheader against Grinnell College on Saturday afternoon. The Lady Blues defeated the Pioneers in the opener, 5-2, but dropped a 6-1 game to bring the day to a close. IC is now 13-9 (7-3 MWC) on the season.

Illinois College will have four straight road games before coming back to Jessica Kamp Field next weekend. On Tuesday, IC will venture to Galesburg, Ill. for a doubleheader against Knox College starting at 3 p.m.

Game One: Illinois College 5, Grinnell 2
After trailing, 2-0, going into the bottom of the third inning, the Illinois College offense came back to tie the game going into the fourth inning and then put three runs on the board in the fourth. Mariah Hedges (7-2) put the clamps on Grinnell the rest of the way to lead IC to victory.

Grinnell got its runs courtesy of a two-out triple from Kayla Morrissey to bring Sage Juveland and Maggie Remus home. Hedges got Mikyla Murphy to ground out to Katie Prizer to end the inning without any further runs for the Pioneers.

In the bottom of the third, Hailey Lesser and Jackie Reilly each singled to start the inning. Though Shelby Koehler then struck out, both Lesser and Reilly stole a base to move into scoring position. Savanna Brady lofted a ball high to center to score Lesser on a sac fly. The next hitter, Frankie Sikora, was the recipient of an error by the Grinnell shortstop as she tumbled to the ground after fielding a grounder. Reilly was on the spot to race home and tie the game.

Prizer led off the fourth with a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from Marissa Knowles. Mikayla Greenwood came through with a RBI single to put the Lady Blues on top. With Lesser and Reilly again on second and third, Koehler singled them both home for a 5-2 IC edge.

That would be more than enough for Hedges. She retired eight straight at one point from the third into the sixth innings and stranded two Grinnell runners to end the sixth. She again got the Pioneers to go down 1-2-3 in the seventh to seal the victory.

Reilly ended 3-for-4 with two runs scored in the game. Elyce Trout was 2-for-3 and Lesser was 1-for-2 with a pair of runs scored.

Game Two: Grinnell 6, Illinois College 1
Illinois College couldn't keep the momentum rolling into the second game. Grinnell and IC traded runs in the second inning, but the Pioneers pulled back ahead in the third and added on more in the fourth. Meanwhile, the Lady Blues couldn't solve Melissa Anderson, who went the distance and gave up only four hits.

Back-to-back doubles to start the second inning gave Grinnell a 1-0 lead, but Jess Feig buckled down and left two runners on base to end the frame for the IC defense. Sikora then led off the bottom of the second with a single and went to second on a groundout from Trout. With two outs in the inning, Lea Hall laid down a bunt and Grinnell threw the ball away for an error. Sikora was aware of the opportunity and came home to tie the game at 1-1.

DJ Troli started the third inning and had two on with two outs. After Hall couldn't locate a foul ball that might have ended the inning, Grinnell took advantage with a double that scored two runs for a 3-1 lead. Maddie Nichols came on to end the inning and continued on in the fourth. Control issues led to three straight walks, two of which brought runners home to make it 5-1. Later on, a bunt towards Prizer at third was slow enough where the senior didn't have a play at the plate and another run came in.

Illinois College had its best chance at a comeback in the bottom of the fifth when Hall singled and Natalie Halpin walked, but Anderson retired three in a row. From there, she gave up just one more hit and one more walk. Hall walked to start the seventh, but a line drive snared by the shortstop turned into a game-ending double play for the Grinnell defense.