By: Illinois College ran its winning streak to 10 games and improved to 23-9 on the season, matching the 2007 team for the most wins in program history.
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JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – The wins keep coming for Illinois College softball. With 7-6 and 9-2 victories over Fontbonne University on Tuesday evening, the Lady Blues extended their winning streak to 10 games and improved to 23-9 on the season. The 23 wins by this year's Lady Blues ties the 2007 team for the most wins in program history.
Results around the Midwest Conference today have helped solidify the MWC Tournament participants. The four teams who will play for the right to advance to the NCAA Tournament are Illinois College, St. Norbert, Cornell and Lake Forest. What isn't known right now is who will host the MWC Tournament in two weeks. Illinois College takes on Lake Forest on April 29 in Janesville, Wis. at 3 and 5 p.m. If the Lady Blues can sweep the Foresters or at least match the results of games played by St. Norbert and Cornell that day, the 2017 MWC Tournament will be held at Jessica Kamp Softball Field on May 5 and 6.
Game One: Illinois College 7, Fontbonne 6
The Lady Blues exploded for five runs in the bottom of the first inning, but then had to hold off Fontbonne late in the game after the Griffins came back to tie it in the fifth inning.
Mariah Hedges (12-2) got the win, her ninth in as many starts.
It would be hard to envision a better start for Illinois College than what it got.
Savanna Brady fielded a ball and tagged a base runner before throwing to first for a double play to end the top of the first. From there, a
Jackie Reilly walk and a triple by
Shelby Koehler put the Lady Blues on top after just two batters. As the inning moved along, Fontbonne committed two errors and IC pounded out three more hits.
Frankie Sikora,
Marissa Knowles and Reilly all added RBIs and
Mikayla Greenwood hit a ball to third that was misplayed for an error, allowing another run to score.
In the bottom of the third, Knowles led off with a walk and pinch-runner
Kailey Talley made it to third on a Greenwood single before scoring on a wild pitch for a 6-0 lead.
It was a good thing that the Lady Blues scored those runs when they had a chance because Fontbonne rallied out of nowhere to tie it. Hedges struck out the side in the fourth inning, but in the fifth the Griffins hit a bloop single and had a pair of bunt singles to score their first run. Following a walk by Hedges that loaded the bases,
DJ Troli entered the game. She had no better luck in stopping Fontbonne and the Griffins cleared the bases with a double and a triple to make it 6-5. With Hedges back in the game, Fontbonne laid down a bunt that brought another run in and leveled the game at 6-6.
Hedges regained control with a 1-2-3 inning in the sixth. In the bottom half of the frame, Reilly walked with one out and Koehler singled to the shortstop. Koehler and Brady were on first and second with two outs in the inning when Sikora came through with the biggest hit of the game, a hard-hit ground ball back up the middle to score Koehler and give IC the lead back at 7-6.
Fontbonne started the top of the seventh with a single, but the next batter, Diamond Thomas, touched a ball in play and was the first out of the inning. Hedges then got a line drive into left caught by Reilly for the second out and ended the game with
Elyce Trout fielding a ball and taking it to the bag at second for the force out.
Game Two: Illinois College 9, Fontbonne 2
The Lady Blues fell behind briefly in the second game, but stormed back to take a 6-1 lead and the Griffins never threatened from there.
Maddie Nichols (4-4) went the whole way and gave up only one earned run while striking out three Fontbonne hitters.
In the top of the second inning, an error by the Illinois College defense eventually allowed Fontbonne to cash in with a two-out single for a 1-0 lead. The Lady Blues answered back with a lead-off double from
Katie Prizer and Trout brought her in with a double down the left field line with two outs in the inning.
Hailey Lesser followed with a single through the right side of the infield that was bobbled in right and gave Trout plenty of time to get home safely for a 2-1 edge.
With two outs and two on in the bottom of the fourth, Lesser added another big hit with a double to left-center, making it 4-1. With Lesser and Reilly in scoring position,
Ryleigh Keith added some insurance with a single under the pitcher's glove and up the middle for a 6-1 cushion.
The Griffins closed the gap to 6-2 with a two-out single in the top of the fifth, but Brady handled the Griffins in the sixth, hauling in a pair of pop-ups and a grounder to second to end the frame. In the bottom of the sixth, the Lady Blues left no doubt. Trout and Lesser singled to start the inning and
Kailey Talley was hit by a pitch to load the bases. With two outs, Sikora connected on a double to left field, clearing the bases for a 9-2 lead.
Lesser ended the game going 3-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs scored. Prizer, Sikora and Trout all added two hits apiece.
