INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.—The University of Southern Indiana softball team rallied from a 3-1 deficit to defeat the University of Indianapolis, 7-3, in the first game of its GLVC-opening doubleheader Saturday. The Screaming Eagles, however, watched the Greyhounds use a one-out, walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the eighth inning of game two to defeat USI, 12-11, and salvage a split on the day.
In game one, the Eagles jumped out to a 1-0 lead on the strength of a RBI-single off the bat of senior outfielder
Kathy Wood (Lynnville, Indiana). The Greyhounds answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning to take a 3-1 advantage.
USI (12-12, 1-1 GLVC) gained a run back in the fourth inning when sophomore catcher
Tara McConnell (Henderson, Kentucky) singled in junior shortstop
Ally McKinley (Sullivan, Indiana). The Eagles took the lead in the fifth inning when sophomore designated player
Sara Loete (Pekin, Illinois) hit a two-run blast, her fifth of the season, over the left-centerfield fence.
The Eagles tacked on three more runs in the seventh inning to give sophomore hurler
Kambria Current (Indianapolis, Indiana) breathing room. Current (3-0), who entered the game in the third inning, allowed just four hits in four-and-a-third innings of work to pick up the win.
Current also had a solid relief appearance in game two to aid the Eagles come-back effort.
Trailing 7-3 after two innings in the second game, the Eagles battled their way back to forge an 8-8 tie and force extra innings.
USI used a two-run blast off the bat of freshman first baseman
Brittany DeWeese (Evansville, Indiana) in the third inning to get the rally going. DeWeese also had a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning and drove in a pair of runs on an error in the eighth inning.
In the fourth inning, senior third baseman
Kristin Eickholt (Van Wert, Ohio) hit a one-out double to put herself and Wood in scoring position. The hit was Eickholt's school-record tying 44th career double.
Loete, who was a combined 5-for-7 with four RBIS in the two games, followed Eickholt's at-bat with an RBI single that scored Wood and positioned Eickholt for DeWeese's sacrifice fly.
The Eagles tied the contest at 8-8 in the fifth on the strength of an RBI-single by junior rightfielder
Lacey Ligmanowski (Homer Glen, Illinois). Both Ligmanowski and Wood had RBI singles in the second inning as well.
In the eighth inning, the Eagles took advantage of a pair of two-out walks in addition to an error to plate a pair of runs. McKinley, who had an RBI in the first game, put the Eagles up 11-8 with an RBI single in the eighth.
Indianapolis (12-14, 1-1 GLVC), however, loaded the bases in the bottom of the eighth inning for freshman Cat Sampson, who responded with her third home run of the season.
Eickholt (0-2), who came onto pitch in the seventh inning, took the loss for the Eagles after giving up the grand slam. It was her first action inside the pitcher's circle since the opening weekend of the season.
After playing 12 games in the last eight days, the Eagles will get a break before opening their home schedule Friday against Rockhurst University. The Eagles were originally scheduled to play Saint Joseph's College Sunday in Rensselaer, Indiana, but the contest was postponed due to poor field conditions.
The USI-Rockhurst doubleheader is slated for a noon start at the USI Softball Field. In addition to those contests, the Eagles will welcome in first-year program Drury University, which is under the direction of former USI Assistant Coach Annie Medico, for a GLVC twin bill next Saturday.
