Two Big Innings Spark Senior Day Sweep of Beloit

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – The Illinois College softball team hammered Beloit College pitching in two innings, blowing open each contest and moving to 17-9 (9-3 Midwest Conference) with a sweep of the Buccaneers on Senior Day at Jessica Kamp Field. The Lady Blues defeated Beloit in the opener, 5-0, and then jumped all over the Bucs in the second game, winning 9-1 in six innings.

The Lady Blues have a few days off to rest, then face a flurry of conference games next weekend. The six-game-in-three-day stretch kicks off with a doubleheader against St. Norbert in Beloit, Wis. on April 27 at 3 and 5 p.m.

Game One – Illinois College 5, Beloit 0
Mariah Hedges pitched her 13th complete game of the season and turned in her third shutout to improve to 10-3 on the year. The Lady Blues struggled to break the game open until the fourth inning when they plated all five runs they would need.

Beloit put runners on second third with one out in the top of the first, but Hedges proceeded to get a foul out to the catcher and a strikeout looking to end the threat. After a 1-2-3 second inning, she then struck out the side in the third.

The score was still 0-0 entering the bottom of the third but that all changed quickly. Lea Hall led off the inning with a double and Elyce Trout reached on a bunt single to put runners on the corners. An infield single from Maddy Morgan drove in Hall for a 1-0 lead before Beloit had recorded an out. With the bases loaded and one away, Hailey Lesser bashed a ball over the head of the center fielder to drive in all three runners for a 4-0 advantage. That prompted a litany of lineup changes from the Buccaneers, but Shelby Koehler came up next and singled to drive in Lesser before a double play stopped the bleeding for Beloit.

Hedges again worked out of a jam in the fifth inning. With the bases loaded and one away, Trout helped her pitcher out by fielding a grounder at shortstop and making a good throw home for the force. Ashley Lambert then lined out to Sam Seggerman in right field to end the inning with no runs scored.

The game flew by after that with no huge run-scoring opportunities each way. Beloit managed a one-out single in the seventh, but Hedges got the lead-off hitter in the order to pop out to Trout for the second out, then she struck Beloit's two-hole hitter out swinging to end the game. She ended her day with just six hits given up while striking out eight.

Game Two – Illinois College 9, Beloit 1 (6 innings)
The offense wasted no time in setting the tone the second time around. The Lady Blues scored seven times in the first inning as Beloit rotated through three pitchers before finally getting the third out. Jess Feig was the beneficiary of this early offense and she kept the Buccaneers in check to earn the victory, improving to 5-5.

Beloit threatened in the top of the first, but Seggerman made a nice over-the-shoulder grab in left field to keep the Buccaneers from scoring early on. Illinois College then got after Beloit starter Alyssa Morris from the get-go, scorching three straight doubles to start the game off. Koehler, Megan Spain and Frankie Sikora provided the extra-base hits to make it 2-0.

With one out in the inning, Ryleigh Keith singled in Sikora from third base to make it 3-0 and Christin Mathias followed with a single to put two runners on. The continued struggles of Beloit's starter prompted a lineup switch for the second game in a row, but the Buccaneer reliever was wild from the jump, hitting Mikayla Greenwood to load the bases and then walking in three straight hitters to make it 6-0. The third Beloit pitcher mercifully was able to locate the zone, but did give up a sacrifice fly from Spain that drove in Seggerman to make it 7-0.

Beloit got a run back in the second inning as Feig momentarily had control issues of her own. The bases were loaded with one out, but Feig got one batter to pop out to third before a single drove in a run. The Buccaneer runner at second base tried scoring on the play, but Seggerman fired home to Keith in time and the tag was made to end the inning.

IC took advantage of a two-out error from Beloit in the bottom of the fourth. Keith reached on an error by the left fielder and then stole second base. A Mathias double drove her home for an 8-1 lead.

In the bottom of the fifth, Rachel Alcott got aboard with a double to the left-center gap. With two down, pinch-hitter Jenna Wright doubled down the line in left to bring Alcott in, making the score 9-1 and invoking the mercy rule.