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Southern Indiana (19-9, 10-4 GLVC): 6, 5
at Lewis (14-15, 6-8 GLVC): 4, 7
-HTML Box Scores:
Game 1 |
Game 2
ROMEOVILLE, Ill.—Junior shortstop
Stephanie Bittner homered twice and sophomore pitcher
Kelsey Jankowski racked up a combined four RBIs as the University of Southern Indiana softball team split a Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheader with East Division foe Lewis University Saturday afternoon.
The Screaming Eagles (19-9, 10-4 GLVC) rallied from a 2-0 deficit to earn a 6-4 victory over the host Flyers in the opener, but fell in the second game, 7-5.
After spotting the Flyers runs in the first and second inning, the Eagles erupted for three runs in the top of the fourth frame to build a 3-2 edge. Bittner began the offensive onslaught with the first of her two solo home runs.
Jankowski's one-out, RBI-single tied the game at 2-2 later in the frame, while junior rightfielder
Katherine Belsito gave the Eagles a one-run advantage with an RBI-groundout.
USI tacked on another run in the sixth inning on an RBI-single by Jankowski, who went 3-for-4 at the plate in game one. Bittner led the seventh inning off with a solo home run to stake the Eagles to a 5-2 advantage, while Jankowski's third RBI-single put USI up, 6-4.
Lewis (14-15, 6-8 GLVC) rallied in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Flyers followed a two-run home run, off the bat of sophomore first baseman Alyssa Mosely, by loading the bases; but freshman pitcher
Brooke Harmening got a ground ball for the third out of the inning to keep Lewis at bay and secure the victory.
Harmening (10-6) earned the win after surrendering four runs off 10 hits in seven innings of work. She also had four strikeouts as the Eagles defeated Lewis in Romeoville, Illinois, for the first time since May of 2002. It also was USI's first regular-season win against Lewis in Romeoville since 1997.
In game two, the Eagles found themselves playing catch-up after the Flyers scored three times in the home half of the first inning to take a 3-0 advantage.
USI, however, had four hits and took advantage of a pair of Lewis errors to plate five runs in the top part of the fifth inning and forge a 5-3 lead. Harmening, Jankowski, and sophomore leftfielder
Kyla Gogel each had RBIs in the inning as USI swung momentum into its favor.
Lewis, however, responded in the last half of the sixth inning as it scored four times to retake the lead. Junior outfielder Jayme Hefler's hit a three-run double with two outs to cap off the Flyers' comeback and prevent USI from completing the doubleheader sweep.
Sophomore pitcher
Madeline Brink took the loss after giving up two runs off two hits and a walk in two-thirds innings of work. Brink (4-3) came into the pitcher's circle in relief of Jankowski, who gave up five runs off five hits in five-and-a-third innings of action, with the Eagles leading 5-4 in the bottom of the sixth inning.
USI, which snapped an 11-game skid to Lewis with its win in the opener, finishes its four-game road trip Sunday when it travels to Somers, Wisconsin, to take on the University of Wisconsin-Parkside in a GLVC doubleheader. The Rangers (2-26, 1-13 GLVC) lost both games of a doubleheader to Kentucky Wesleyan College Saturday in Somers.
