CLERMONT, Fla.--- The University of Southern Indiana softball team cracked the fifth installment of the 2015 National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division II Poll coming in at No. 22. After two weeks of receiving votes, the Screaming Eagles earned 52 points for the No. 22 slot. USI joins two other Great Lakes Valley Conference teams on the top-25 list, 18
th-ranked University of Indianapolis and No. 4 Missouri-St. Louis.
USI concluded its eight-game Florida schedule with a pair of wins over Wilmington University and Shippensburg University Wednesday afternoon.
The Eagles started the day with a dominating 9-4 win over the Wildcats, before a come-from-behind 7-2 win over the Raiders.
Despite letting off three hits in the top of the first inning against Wilmington, the Eagles were unable to send any runners home. The Wildcats came back in their portion of the first and tallied a run for a 1-0 lead, however the Eagles answered back in the following half-inning, off an RBI-single by redshirt-freshman
Shelby Tate (Matoon, Illinois) to tie the game up.
It was a back-and-forth battle between both teams as sophomore
Haley Hodges (Portage, Indiana) had a lead-off homerun to right center field to give the Eagles a 2-1 advantage, before the Wildcats tallied four runs to take over, 4-2.
Senior
MacKenzi Dorsam (Dubois, Indiana) put USI back in the front position with a three-run homer in the fourth before coming back in the fifth to extend its lead to 8-4 with a three-run double to left center. Dorsam solidified the Eagles' 9-4 win, scoring on a wild pitch following her RBI-triple.
Brooke Harmening (Whiteland, Indiana) improved to 8-0 in the pitcher's circle, while the Wildcats divided time up between Brooke Lachette, Chelsea Botsch and Danielle Bradley with Botsch taking the loss for Wilmington.
Following the top of the first against Shippensburg, the Eagles trailed 2-0 but would eventually rally back in the bottom of the second to take a 4-2 lead that featured an an RBI-single and RBI-double by Dorsam and junior
Toni Braun (Evanston, Indiana), respectively.
Up 5-2 following a sacrifice bunt by Harmening, sophomore
Lexi Reese (Lebanon, Indiana) tallied two RBIs off a double to right field for a 7-2 lead and eventual win.
Junior pitcher
Sarah Owens continued her winning streak with her thid win in the circle, tallying two strikeouts and giving off just three hits in 22 at-bats.
The Eagles return to Evansville, Indiana, to open conference play against William Jewell College Saturday at Noon and 2 p.m. before another round of doubleheader action versus Rockhurst University Sunday.
