CLERMONT, Fla. - The Lady Blues faced their toughest test of the season Monday morning, going toe-to-toe with No. 1 Trine University before earning a decisive 8–0 run-rule victory over Lebanon Valley College in five innings.
Illinois College now stands at 3–5 on the season after splitting the two contests.
Game One - No. 1 Trine 4 Illinois College 2
The Lady Blues matched the top-ranked team in the country inning for inning early on, holding Trine scoreless through four frames and carrying a lead into the fifth. Illinois College collected five hits in the contest and played clean defense against a nationally ranked lineup.
IC broke through in the fourth inning when Elysia Hand doubled to left and later stole home to give the Lady Blues a 1-0 advantage. In the fifth, Maddie Adams reached on catcher's interference, moved into scoring position on a passed ball and wild pitch, and came home on Gabby Miller's RBI triple to stretch the lead to 2–0.
Trine answered in the bottom half of the fifth, capitalizing on a pair of hits and a sacrifice to tie the game at 2-2. The Thunder added two more runs in the sixth on three hits, taking control late and securing the 4-2 win.
Hand finished with a double and two stolen bases, while Miller added a triple and an RBI. Bella Thien also tripled, and Shelby Seiler contributed a base hit as part of the Lady Blues' five-hit effort.
Cambria Currie took the loss in the circle, allowing two runs over four innings of work while keeping the nation's top team off balance early. Avery Fritz tossed the final two innings in relief.
Game Two - Illinois College 8 Lebanon Valley 0 (5 Innings)
The Lady Blues responded in a big way in the second game, erupting for eight runs on ten hits to earn a run-rule victory over Lebanon Valley College.
After stranding runners early, Illinois College broke the game open with a four-run third inning. Gabby Miller singled and stole second before Elysia Hand delivered a hit to put two aboard. Shelby Seiler followed with a two-RBI single, and Bella Thien drove in two more with a base hit to give IC a 4-0 lead.
The Lady Blues added another run in the fourth when Raegan Rezba tripled and later scored on an error. In the fifth, Seiler and Halie Williams each singled to spark the offense before Thien cleared the bases with a two-RBI triple. Kendall Cole later added an RBI single to push the lead to 8-0 and seal the run-rule win.
Thien led the way with two hits and four RBIs, including a triple, while Seiler finished with two hits and two RBIs. Rezba added a triple, and Ezzy Mauermann and Miller each recorded hits as IC totaled ten in the game.
Jordan Closs was dominant in the circle, tossing a complete-game two-hit shutout with five strikeouts to earn the win. The senior allowed just two baserunners to reach scoring position and shut the door in the fifth to complete the bounce-back victory.
Up Next
The Lady Blues will return to action Tuesday morning, facing Elizabethtown College at 9:00 a.m. before taking on Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at 11:15 a.m.
