Game 1
at Southern Indiana (24-17, 12-14 GLVC): 3
Wisconsin-Parkside (8-30, 5-19 GLVC): 2
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Game 2
at Southern Indiana: 10
Wisconsin-Parkside: 3
-Box Score: HTML | Sortable |
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EVANSVILLE, Ind.—Junior
Kelsey Jankowski hit a grand slam and had five RBIs in game two as the University of Southern Indiana softball team, which scored 13 two-out runs on the day, completed a Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheader sweep of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside Sunday afternoon at the USI Softball Field.
The Screaming Eagles (24-17, 12-14 GLVC) rallied from a 2-0 deficit to post a 3-2 win over the visiting Rangers in game one before pounding out 12 hits to claim a 10-3 win in game two.
In the opener, UW-Parkside (8-30, 5-19 GLVC) took advantage of a lead-off walk and a passed ball in the bottom of the second inning to get on the scoreboard. The Rangers racked up three of their seven hits in the frame as they built a 2-0 advantage.
After squandering a scoring opportunity in the second inning, the Eagles got on the scoreboard in the third as sophomore
Brooke Harmening hit an RBI-double into leftfield to trim the Ranger's lead in half.
USI, however, continued to miss out on scoring opportunities throughout the contest as UW-Parkside committed seven errors in the game. The Eagles had runners at second and third with one out in the fourth, but could not push the tying run across the plate. They had a runner at third with one out in the fifth and failed to tie the contest.
In the sixth, USI had the bases loaded but came away empty handed, leaving the Eagles with just three outs to tie the contest. In total, the Eagles stranded 11 runners on base, including nine in scoring position.
Down to their last out in the seventh inning and Jankowski standing on first base, the Eagles got a huge double off the bat of freshman
Kaitlyn England to put the tying run at third and the go-ahead run at second base.
Junior
Kyla Gogel (Fulda, Indiana) hit a ground ball in the next at-bat that was mishandled by shortstop Jessica Loy and into centerfield, allowing both runners to score and the Eagles to take a 3-2 advantage.
Harmening (17-9) retired the Rangers in order in the last half of the seventh inning as the Eagles held on for the one-run advantage. Harmening earned the complete-game win after allowing two runs and striking out five batters.
In game two, the Eagles struck first as Jankowski followed Harmening's RBI-double with an RBI-single to give USI a 2-0 lead in the top of the third inning.
The Rangers answered with three runs in the last half of the third as Ashley Nowdomski and Kirsten Luevno hit back-to-back doubles to finish off a string of four straight UW-Parkside hits.
USI, however, sent 10 batters to the plate and scored six times with two outs in the fourth inning. Freshman
Janna Green had a run-scoring double and, after sophomore
MacKenzi Dorsam and Harmening were plunked in back-to-back at-bats to load the bases, Jankowski hit a towering shot over the rightfield fence—her fifth home run of the season—to stake USI to a comfortable 8-3 advantage.
USI added to that cushion in the fifth inning as a two-out walk, a bunt-hit by Green, and some heads-up base-running by freshman
Toni Braun set up Dorsam for a two-run single.
Freshman
Sarah Owens (6-7) earned the complete-game victory for the Eagles as she gave up three runs off nine hits. She had three strikeouts and just one walk.
The Eagles return to action Wednesday at 5 p.m. as they conclude their 2013 home schedule with a GLVC doubleheader against Kentucky Wesleyan College at the USI Softball Field. Wednesday's games are the final GLVC meeting between the two long-time rivals in any sport. The Panthers (17-26, 11-19 GLVC) suffered a pair of GLVC losses to Lewis University Sunday in Owensboro, Kentucky.
