EAST PEORIA, Ill.—The University of Southern Indiana softball team fell to Quincy University, 13-8, in the opening round of the GLVC Tournament Friday afternoon.

After a three-hour rain delay preempted the start of the contest, the two teams found themselves in a slugfest that featured eight home runs and five doubles.

The Screaming Eagles (29-23-1) bounced back from a 1-0 deficit with back-to-back home runs in the top of the third to take a 3-1 advantage. Sophomore rightfielder Lacey Ligmanowski (Homer Glen, Illinois) had a two-run shot and junior leftfielder Kathy Wood (Lynnville, Indiana) followed with her first career home run to give the Eagles momentum.

Quincy (27-20), however, quickly squashed the moment by scoring eight runs in the bottom half of the inning to take a 9-3 lead. The Lady Hawks added two more runs in the fourth inning to pad their advantage.

With two out in the top of the fifth inning, sophomore shortstop Ally McKinley (Sullivan, Indiana) hit a two-run double that kept the Eagles alive. The Eagles cut the deficit to four in the sixth inning with another two-run double, this time off the bat of Ligmanowski, who was 2-for-4 with four RBIs.

Once again, though, the Lady Hawks answered USI's rally with two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to take a 13-7 advantage. Junior third baseman/pitcher Kristin Eickholt (Van Wert, Ohio) added a solo home run in the top of the seventh, but that was all the Eagles could muster as they fell in their tournament opener.

Junior hurler Amy Harrison (Graceville, Florida) was charged with the loss. Harrison (17-12) gave up five runs off six hits in two-and-one-thirds innings of work.

USI faces the loser of the contest between the second seed, No. 13 Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, and the seventh seed, Saint Joseph's College, later in the elimination bracket. Estimated start time of that contest is 5:15 p.m.