CLERMONT, Fla. – The Illinois College softball team went from one extreme to the other on Thursday, pounding out 12 hits and mercy-ruling the University of Northwestern (MN), 11-2, in six innings in the first game of the day. The Lady Blues then couldn't get anything going against York College (PA) pitcher Taylor Lindsay and were no-hit in six inning, 10-0.
Illinois College concludes its Spring Break trip tomorrow with games against Berea College at 10 a.m. (EST) and Bridgewater College at 12:15 p.m. (EST).
Illinois College 11, Northwestern (MN) 2 (6 innings)
The Lady Blues jumped out early and never looked back in an impressive win over the Eagles in the first action of Thursday afternoon. IC had four innings of two or more runs, including a five-run explosion in the sixth that put the game away.
Sydney Hood (1-3) earned the win, going the whole way and allowing five hits while striking out six.
Maddy Morgan doubled home
Sam Seggerman with one out in the first inning to get the scoring started. Later in the inning, an error from Northwestern brought Morgan in for a 2-0 lead.
The Eagles answered back with one run in the bottom of the first, but Illinois College extended the lead with a two-run third. Three consecutive bunt singles loaded the bases before another Eagle error in the outfield brought Morgan and
Mariana Babic home to make it 4-1. Again, Northwestern answered back with a single run in the bottom of the frame, leaving the score 4-2.
Madisyn Webster led off the fourth with a single, then stole both second and third before coming home on a groundout from Babic. Seggerman also was busy on the basepaths, reaching on a walk and stealing second. She would score on a passed ball to increase IC's lead to 6-2.
Hood got into a groove in the middle innings, retiring six straight Eagle batters to get the game to the sixth. There, Illinois College put the game away with five runs on five hits and a Northwestern error to build an 11-2 cushion. RBIs in the inning came from
Grace Frost,
Abigail Tepen and
Skylar Dees. With the score 9-2, Tepen scored on an Eagle error and Dees would then complete the scoring, coming home as part of a double-steal.
Morgan was 3-for-4 in the game and scored three runs. Tepen and
Jenna Wright each also added two hits apiece.
York (PA) 10, Illinois College 0 (6 innings)
York took the lead with a run in the top of the first and as it turned out, that's all the Spartans would have needed thanks to the pitching of Taylor Lindsay. Lindsay walked two Illinois College hitters but otherwise was perfect, striking out seven and ending with a no-hitter.
The Spartans extended their lead to 3-0 in the third inning with a two-run bomb before playing small-ball to add on two more runs in the fifth. The game slipped away from the Lady Blues in the sixth inning with York plating five runs on three hits and an error. IC needed three runs to keep the game alive in the bottom of the inning, but went down in order.
Alissa Hodge (0-2) went 5.1 innings and took the loss.
Olivia Jordan closed out the game and recorded the final two outs for the Lady Blues.
