By: Mariah Hedges outdueled Lexi Reetz in a 13-inning marathon to start the day before Jess Feig shut down the Red Hawks to close out the sweep.
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Box Score 2
JANESVILLE, Wis. – The Illinois College softball team won their fifth and sixth consecutive games on Saturday afternoon, dealing Ripon College goose eggs over 20 innings of action in 1-0 and 5-0 victories. IC improves its overall record to 21-9 (13-3 Midwest Conference) on the season and wraps up a third straight MWC Tournament bid.
The Lady Blues, having clinched the No. 2 seed in next week's MWC Tournament, close out the conference schedule with a doubleheader at Lawrence University tomorrow. IC has added a non-conference twinbill to the schedule and will host Millikin University at Jessica Kamp Field on May 1 at 3 and 5 p.m.
Game One: Illinois College 1, Ripon 0 (13 innings)
Mariah Hedges and Lexi Reetz each threw complete games, but it was the Lady Blues who finally broke through with a
Jackie Reilly RBI in the top of the 13th inning to score the game's only run. Hedges (12-3) struck out four and allowed only six hits the entire way.
Each team had an early opportunity to get on the board, but the pitchers locked down with runners in scoring position. Reilly led off the game with a single and later stole second base, but Reetz retired
Lea Hall to end the top of the first. In the second inning, Ripon got a runner all the way to third before Hedges got Teara Morgenroth swinging to finish the frame.
Neither offense could get anything going, even as the game moved into extra innings. Starting after
Sam Seggerman drew a two-out walk in the top of the eighth, Hedges and Reetz combined to retire 23 consecutive batters before
Savanna Brady managed an infield single in the top of the 12th.
The top of the 13th inning started with a popout from
Elyce Trout, but
Maddy Morgan followed with a single down the left-field line. The next hitter,
Mikayla Greenwood, hit a grounder and Ripon tried to get Morgan at second base, but Morgan slid in just safely ahead of the throw to put two runners on. Seggerman then drew a walk to load the bases with one out. Back at the top of the order, Reilly lofted a fly ball to left field and the throw home was late as Morgan scored to finally break the deadlock.
In the bottom of the inning, Brady leaped high to snare a line drive for the second out and then threw out Molly Potter on a grounder for the final out of the game.
Game Two: Illinois College 5, Ripon 0
The IC offense had an easier time against Ripon starter Lilli Smith in the second game, pounding out 11 hits, including a 4-for-4 game from Reilly.
Jess Feig limited Ripon to five hits and struck out a pair, earning the win to improve to 7-5 on the season.
The Lady Blues got on the board in the bottom of the third as Seggerman drew a walk, went to second on a wild pitch and then advanced to third on a single from Reilly. A slow roller from
Hailey Lesser did enough to get Seggerman home for the early lead.
A three-run bottom of the fifth increased IC's margin to 4-0. Back-to-back singles from Reilly and Lesser put two aboard and Brady hit a double to the wall in right-center to bring them both home to make it 3-0. Later on, a Ripon error allowed Brady to score. The Lady Blues got one last bit of insurance on a Reilly RBI single in the bottom of the sixth that brought
Christin Mathias home for a 5-0 lead.
Ripon put together a pair of base hits in its last turn at the plate, but Feig retired the last batter on a ground ball back to her in the circle to bring the game to a close.
