NASHVILLE, Tenn.—University of Southern Indiana Softball senior catcher
Haley Hodges (Portage, Indiana) set program records for career RBIs and home runs Wednesday as the No. 14 Screaming Eagles swept a Midwest Region doubleheader from host Trevecca Nazarene University. USI won game one, 4-3, before taking the nightcap, 10-2, in six innings.
Hodges ended the day with 149 career RBIs and 39 career home runs to break a pair of ties with Rachel Bowling.
USI (21-5), which slipped four spots to No. 14 in the latest NFCA Top 25 Coaches' Poll, returns to Great Lakes Valley play Saturday at noon when it travels to Springfield, Missouri, for a doubleheader against Drury University.
Southern Indiana (21-5) 4, Trevecca Nazarene (10-15) 3
Hodges wasted little time in becoming the Eagles' all-time RBI leader as her two-run single in the top of the first inning represented her 145th and 146th career RBIs, breaking a tie between her and Bowling. More importantly, the hit gave the Eagles an early 2-0 lead over the Trojans.
Trevecca Nazarene (10-15), however, rallied in the last half of the first inning with a two-run home run and an RBI-single to take a 3-2 lead.
Hodges' RBI-single in the third inning tied the game at 3-3, while junior first baseman
Marleah Fossett (Brownsburg, Indiana) broke the tie in the fifth frame with a solo home run.
Freshman pitcher
Jennifer Leonhardt (Louisville, Kentucky) shook off the rough first inning to earn the victory. Leonhardt (11-1), who gave up five hits in the first inning, settled down to retire 19 of the final 20 batters she faced. She finished with eight strikeouts and no walks en route to her eighth straight decision.
Southern Indiana 10, Trevecca Nazarene 2 (6 inn.)
Hodges' two-run home run in the top of the first inning was her 39th career round-tripper, breaking a tie between her and Bowling, as USI took a 2-0 lead.
The Trojans had tallies in both the first and second innings, but a three-run double by senior shortstop
Lexi Reese (Lebanon, Indiana) in the top of the second frame put USI up 5-1.
Back-to-back home runs by junior
Alex Logan (Carleton, Michigan) and freshman
Allison Schubert (Nicholasville, Kentucky) in the fifth inning gave the Eagles an 8-2 lead, while an error and an RBI-single by freshman Taylor Ricketts (Georgetown, Kentucky) in the sixth gave USI a 10-2 advantage. Logan's home run was a two-run blast, while Schubert's solo shot was her first career collegiate hit.
Sophomore lefty
Courtney Atkisson (Bringhurst, Indiana) earned the win after giving up two runs, one earned, off nine hits in six innings of work. Atkisson (7-3) had a pair of strikeouts and just one walk en route to her seventh win of the year.