PLANT CITY, Fla. – The Illinois College softball team split a pair of games on Thursday, suffering a late loss to Emerson College by a score of 7-6 but recovering quickly to earn a 9-3 win over Simmons University. The 1-1 day leaves the Lady Blues at 3-3 overall for the year.
The Lady Blues wrap up their trip to Florida tomorrow with a matchup against Hood College at 12:15 p.m. (EST) and St. John Fisher College at 2:30 p.m. (EST).
Game One: Emerson 7, Illinois College 6
Ahead 5-2 going into the sixth inning, Illinois College lost the lead when Emerson exploded for five runs and a comeback attempt in the bottom of the seventh came up a run short.
Grace Frost and
Madisyn Webster drove in runs in the opening inning to put Illinois College out in front, 2-0. The lead remained until Emerson cut it in half with a run in the third and then tied the game on a home run from Kallista Leo in the top of the fourth. The Lady Blues were quick to respond, with
Jessica Belzer driving in a pair in the bottom half of the frame to make it 4-2.
Jackie Reilly then made it 5-2 on a sacrifice bunt to bring Belzer in.
Things flipped in the sixth inning when Emerson strung together six hits in the inning, scoring five runs to nab a 7-5 lead. Attempting to rally, Illinois College got one run back in the bottom of the seventh when
Frankie Sikora drove in Reilly to make it 7-6, but the Lions got Frost to ground out to end the game.
Game Two: Illinois College 9, Simmons 3
The Lady Blues built another big lead in the second game of the day. Though Simmons cut a 6-0 deficit in half, Illinois College put the game away with a three-run seventh inning to clinch it.
Maddie Nichols pitched a complete game to get the victory, moving to 1-0 on the year.
Batting first, Illinois College struck for three runs in the opening inning. A poor pitching start for Simmons loaded the bases and
Ryleigh Keith doubled in Reilly and
Savanna Brady. Later on,
Maddy Morgan worked another walk to drive in a run.
The lead was extended to 4-0 in the top of the third when
Madisyn Webster bunted for a single and was driven in by a
Sam Seggerman triple. The game remained 4-0 until the top of the sixth when
Jenna Wright and
Olivia Jordan each drove in a run to increase the lead to 6-0.
Simmons had one push in it, scoring three runs with two outs in the bottom of the sixth to make it interesting. However, Nichols was able to escape the inning and Seggerman, Reilly and Belzer all supplied RBIs in the top of the seventh to put the game away.
Nichols gave up eight hits over her 7.0 innings of work. She did not walk a batter, while two Simmons pitchers combined for five walks. Seggerman led the offense with a 3-for-4 day with two RBIs and two runs scored.
