LEBANON, Ill.—University of Southern Indiana Softball's rally from a 4-0 deficit in the second game of a Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheader came up short as the No. 10 Screaming Eagles were forced to settle for a split against host McKendree University Saturday afternoon.
 
USI (27-7, 6-4 GLVC) won the opening game, 7-0, before falling in the nightcap, 4-3. The Eagles return to action Sunday at noon when they visit the University of Illinois Springfield for a GLVC doubleheader.
 
Game 1 | Southern Indiana 7, McKendree 0
USI jumped out to an early 1-0 lead as junior designated player Alex Logan (Carleton, Michigan) had an RBI-double in the top of the second inning. The Eagles broke the game wide open in the fifth frame when they scored five runs off four hits and three McKendree errors.
 
Junior third baseman Marleah Fossett (Brownsburg, Indiana) and senior outfielder Grace Clark (Indianapolis, Indiana) each had RBI hits in the fifth, while two more runs scored when Logan reached on a throwing error. Logan later scored on a wild pitch to complete an onslaught that left the Eagles in firm control with a 6-0 lead.
 
Senior catcher Haley Hodges (Portage, Indiana), who was 3-for-3 with a double and an RBI, pushed USI's final tally across the plate with an RBI-single in sixth inning.
 
Freshman pitcher Jennifer Leonhardt (Louisville, Kentucky) earned her second straight complete-game shutout after scattering three hits throughout seven innings of work. Leonhardt (15-1) fanned nine batters and did not issue a walk.
 
Game 2 | McKendree 4, Southern Indiana 3
The Eagles' two-out rally in the top of the fourth inning netted three runs, but a grand slam in the last half of the third proved to be too much for USI to overcome as it suffered its seventh one-run loss of the year.
 
McKendree (19-14, 6-6 GLVC) broke a scoreless tie when first baseman Rachel Hasting launched a ball over the fence with the bases loaded and no outs.
 
USI responded in the next frame as Clark's two-out, RBI-single cut the Eagles' deficit to three runs. Junior third baseman Mena Fulton (Bloomington, Indiana) followed with a two-run double to get the Eagles to with a run at 4-3, but that was all the damage the Eagles could do as they had just two base runners in the final three innings of the contest.
 
Sophomore lefty Courtney Atkisson (Bringhurst, Indiana) was charged with the setback after surrendering four runs, three earned, off four hits in 2.1 innings of work. Fellow classmate Caitlyn Bradley (Forest, Indiana) kept the Eagles close as she held the Bearcats scoreless in 3.2 innings of action.