CLERMONT, Fla. – The Illinois College softball team fell in two contests on its first day of a Spring Break trip to Florida. The day opened with a 5-3 loss to Lebanon Valley College and continued with a 4-1 loss on Sunday evening to Moravian College.
Play continues tomorrow for the Lady Blues with a 12:30 p.m. (EST) game against Franklin College and a 3 p.m. (EST) contest with Thiel College.
Lebanon Valley 5, Illinois College 3
Things flew by for the first three innings between the Lady Blues and Lebanon Valley.
Sydney Hood was cruising and helped out by a 5-3 double play to end the top of the third. IC struck first in the bottom of the third inning when
Sam Seggerman tripled home
Gillian Culbreth, who had entered as a pinch-runner for
Alissa Hodge.
Hodge took over for Hood in the top of the fourth inning and had a runner on with two outs before a passed ball and an error allowed a run to score for the Dutchmen.
Illinois College had runners on second and third in the bottom of the fourth but were unable to push a run across. Lebanon Valley made the Lady Blues pay for that missed opportunity with three runs on four hits in the top of the fifth to go on top, 4-1.
The Dutchmen added one more insurance run in the top of the sixth to take a 5-1 lead. In their last turn at the plate, the Lady Blues scored on a RBI single from
Jessica Belzer and then drew another run closer as a passed ball brought in Hood from third. With the tying run at second base, Lebanon Valley was able to preserve the win by getting
Maddy Morgan to fly out to end the game.
Moravian 4, Illinois College 1
Just like in the first game of the day, Illinois College got on the board first against Moravian, but three errors later in the day paved the way to four unearned runs for the Greyhounds.
The Lady Blues got on the board with Seggerman earning a lead-off walk, stealing second and then taking third on the throw. From there,
Skylar Dees delivered a two-out single to drive in Seggerman for the 1-0 edge in the early going.
Hood stranded a Moravian runner in both the first and second innings, but was unable to keep the Greyhounds off the board when IC committed an error on the first batter of the third inning. Victoria Smith was driven in with one out to tie the game up at 1-1.
Olivia Shimmin relieved Hood in the fifth inning and walked Smith to start the frame. A sac bunt and a single took her to third, where she later scored on a passed ball for a 2-1 Moravian lead. The Lady Blues left two runners aboard in the top of the sixth and then committed another error in the bottom half of the inning that allowed a pair of Greyhound runs to score.
Despite a two-out double from Seggerman in the seventh, Illinois College could not come up with the response needed to pull off the comeback. Seggerman ended the game 2-for-2 at the plate with a pair of walks as well. Hood struck out five in a no-decision for the sophomore.
