EVANSVILLE, Ind.—University of Southern Indiana Softball saw nine different players record a hit and six different players notch RBIs as it swept a Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheader from visiting William Jewell College Sunday afternoon at the USI Softball Field.
Junior catcher
Lindsey Barr (Whitesville, Kentucky) led the Screaming Eagles at the plate, going a combined 4-of-7 with a double and two RBIs; while sophomore pitcher
Jennifer Leonhardt (Louisville, Kentucky) earned a pair of wins in the circle.
The Eagles (23-16, 12-8 GLVC), winners of six straight, return to action Tuesday at 5 p.m. when they host Midwest Region rival Kentucky Wesleyan College at the USI Softball Field. The Panthers (18-19, 6-10 GMAC) have lost four straight entering Tuesday's twinbill.
Game 1: USI 6, William Jewell 5
Barr hit a walk-off, RBI-double with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning to give the Eagles the 6-5 win.
USI, which scored five straight runs to take a 5-1 advantage, saw its lead evaporate as the Cardinals scored four times in the top of the fifth inning to tie the score.
Earlier in the game, the Eagles answered a William Jewell tally with two runs in the home half of the first frame. Senior first baseman
Marleah Fossett (Brownsburg, Indiana) had a two-out, two-run single to give the Eagles the early lead.
The Eagles padded their advantage with three runs in the fourth inning. Leonhardt, junior outfielder
Caitlyn Bradley (Forest, Indiana) and sophomore outfielder
Allison Schubert (Nicholasville, Kentucky) each had RBIs for the Eagles, who extended their lead to 5-1.
Leonhardt (12-8) spelled junior hurler
Haylee Smith (Florence, Kentucky) with two outs in the sixth inning to earn the win. She allowed just two base runners while fanning four batters.
Game 2: USI 6, William Jewell 2
After trading runs with Jewell (21-19, 8-12 GLVC) in the third inning, USI Head Coach
Sue Kunkle pulled Leonhardt from the circle for junior lefthander
Courtney Atkisson (Bringhurst, Indiana) to begin the fourth inning and the move payed off.
Atkisson went through the Cardinals' lineup throughout the next 1 2/3 innings, keeping the Cardinals off the scoreboard and throwing off the timing of William Jewell's hitters. Leonhardt came in to get the final out of the fifth and allowed just one hit throughout the final two innings to earn the win.
Offensively, the Eagles put together three straight hits to begin the fifth inning and scored the go-ahead runs on an errant throw. Leonhardt had a sacrifice fly in the fifth to make it 4-1; while an RBI-single by Barr and sacrifice fly by senior outfielder
Olivia Clark-Kittleson (Carbondale, Illinois) gave USI a 6-1 lead in the sixth.
Jewell (21-19, 8-12 GLVC) got a two-out, solo home run off the bat of senior first baseman Phoebe Dabbour in the seventh; but Leonhardt, who gave up two runs off four hits with seven strikeouts, was able to close the door with by inducing a ground ball for the final out of the game.
USI capitalized on a pair of errors in the third inning to plate its first run and tie the game at 1-1.
