By: Illinois College kept Ripon off the board for 18 innings on Sunday, winning the opener, 1-0, in 11 innings, and then closing out the trip to Wisconsin with a 4-0 victory.
Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2
RIPON, Wis. – The Illinois College softball team won its fourth and fifth games in a row on Sunday, taking two from Ripon College by scores of 1-0 and 4-0. The opener between the Lady Blues and Red Hawks needed 11 innings to decide a winner, but
Mariah Hedges (5-2) was in command the whole way, giving up only four hits in 10.2 innings. In the closing game of the day,
Jess Feig (4-0) got a little more help from the offense and only allowed six hits.
The Lady Blues (11-7, 5-1 Midwest Conference) close out a six-game road swing on April 14, battling Monmouth College at 1 and 3 p.m.
Game One: Illinois College 1, Ripon 0 (11 innings)
In a tight pitcher's duel, Illinois College finally broke through in the top of the 11th on a
Frankie Sikora RBI single and Hedges put the Red Hawks down in order to end it.
Jackie Reilly reached via in a walk in the first inning, but was stranded out third. She was the only baserunner for the first two innings until
Hailey Lesser singled in the third inning for the first hit of the contest.
The Red Hawks didn't get a hit until the fourth inning, but that runner was left on first base. In the sixth, Reilly and
Shelby Koehler were in scoring position with two down, but a Sikora grounder was fielded by the pitcher and thrown out to end the frame.
Ripon's best chance for the win came in the bottom of the ninth. A lead-off single left the Lady Blues in a dangerous position. Hedges was momentarily lifted for
DJ Troli and Troli induced a groundout by Stephanie Cartwright, Ripon's most dangerous hitter. Hedges re-entered after that and got out of the jam with a grounder to shortstop ending the inning with a runner on third.
The Lady Blues had two outs and no one on in the 11th when Koehler drew a walk. That was followed by a
Savanna Brady single and Koehler sprinted to third. Sikora was up next and her single to left field drove in Koehler for the go-ahead run.
In the bottom of the inning, Hedges didn't let the ball leave the infield and put the Red Hawks down 1-2-3 to clinch the victory.
Game Two: Illinois College 4, Ripon 0
The IC offense sprang to life in the second game to help Feig maintain her perfect record on the season. The Lady Blues scored one run in the third and fifth innings, then tacked on two insurance runs in the top of the seventh.
Elyce Trout got Illinois College on the board in the third, leading off the inning with a double to left. From there, Lesser laid down a bunt that was misplayed by the Ripon defense and resulted in Trout racing in to give IC the lead.
In the fifth inning, Lesser singled with one away and Reilly tripled to left-center to bring her home for a 2-0 advantage. The Red Hawks stranded two runners in the bottom of that inning and left one aboard in the sixth.
In the seventh, the bases were loaded with two outs again for Sikora, and again the freshman came through. Her single back up the middle brought Reilly and Troli home for a 4-0 advantage. Feig got the Red Hawks in order in the bottom half to end the game.
