KISSIMMEE, Fla.—The University of Southern Indiana softball team continued its winning ways Thursday, defeating Dowling College, 3-2, and Great Lakes Regional foe Ashland University, 6-1, at the Division II Rebel Spring Games.
USI (9-6) has won six straight games and nine of its last 10, and is a perfect 6-0 in Florida this season.
The Screaming Eagles continue the Rebel Spring Games Friday when they take on C.W. Post at 3:10 p.m. (CST) and the College of St. Rose at 5 p.m. (CST).
Southern Indiana 3, Dowling College (3-6) 2
Sophomore third baseman
Kristin Eickholt's (Van Wert, Ohio) two-out double down the right field line in the bottom of the seventh inning brought sophomore outfielder/pitcher
Kathy Wood (Lynnville, Indiana) all the way from first base to score the winning run and extend USI's winning streak to five games.
Eickholt was 3-for-4 from the plate with two doubles and two runs batted in, while Wood went 2-for-4 from the plate with the winning run scored. Eickholt got the Eagles on the board in the bottom of the first inning with an RBI single, while junior outfielder/pitcher
Nikki Nichols (Henderson, Kentucky) drove in USI's second run of the game with a single in the fourth.
Senior pitcher
Missy Grover (Mishawaka, Indiana) allowed just two unearned runs, both coming in the top of the second inning, to earn her third straight decision. Grover (4-4) scattered six hits throughout seven innings while striking out four batters and not allowing a walk in the victory.
Southern Indiana 6, Ashland University (5-4) 1
Senior hurler
Lindsey McNaughton (Carmel, Indiana) allowed just two hits and an unearned run to pick up her fifth straight win and give USI's its sixth straight victory. McNaughton (5-2) retired the first eight batters she faced and finished the contest with five strikeouts.
Offensively, USI scored a run in the second inning, three in the third, and two in the fifth. Eickholt had a two-run home run, her first of the season, in the third inning, while McNaughton, who was 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles and two RBIs, had a two-run double in the fifth inning.
Nichols also had an RBI in the victory, while senior catcher
Angie Davis (Greenwood, Indiana) went 3-for-4 with three runs scored.