KISSIMMEE, Fla. – The Illinois College softball team split the final two games of its annual Florida swing, beating Regis 6-1 before falling to North Central 8-2 on Friday.
The Lady Blues moved to 4-9 on the season and finished the annual Florida trip with a 4-5 record.
The day's first game, IC never trailed, taking a 1-0 lead when
Kayla Serpa scored on a Regis error. It was much of the same in the second frame as the Lady Blues'
Lauren Brown scored on another Pride error to make it 2-0.
After Regis came back with an unearned run in the top of the third, IC put the game away with four in their half of the frame. Serpa stole home to score the first run.
Cheyenne Anderson then scored on a wild pitch before a bases-clearing triple by Brown plated
Kendall Cole and
Calynn Gicante to close out the scoring.
Serpa and Brown each had a pair of hits for IC while
Hannah Crouch went the distance in the circle, scattering five hits, allowing no earned runs, and striking out nine to earn her second victory of the season.
The second game opened with a milestone. Senior pitcher
Julia Drake started and worked the first three innings, recording seven strikeouts which upped her career total to 340. She now ranks second all-time in school history for strikeouts.
North Central broke open a scoreless game in the fourth inning with three runs in the fourth and a single tally in the fifth. The Lady Blues got untracked in the sixth and cut the lead in half when Gicante doubled, scoring pinch runner
Lucy Snow.
Elysia Hand then doubled home Gicante to make it 4-2. That was as close as IC would get.
The Cardinals put the game out of reach with four runs in their half of the sixth to post the final margin.
Gicante, who took the loss in the circle, paced the offense with two hits.Â
The Lady Blues will be in action again when they travel to Fontbonne for a doubleheader a week from Saturday. The first game is slated for 1:00 p.m. and the contest will be played at ABC Ballpark.
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