WINTER HAVEN, Fla.—University of Southern Indiana senior pitcher Jennifer Leonhardt struck out a season-high 15 batters Tuesday evening as the No. 24 Screaming Eagles' softball team rallied past Winona State University, 3-2, to earn a two-game sweep on its final day at The Spring Games. Earlier in the day, senior outfielder Allison Schubert went 3-for-5 with three RBI as USI rallied for a 10-5 Midwest Region win over two-time defending Great Midwest Athletic Conference champion Hillsdale College.

USI 10, Hillsdale 5
The Eagles (15-4) capitalized on five walks, a hit batter and a couple defensive miscues to score six times in the top half of the second inning, erasing a 2-0 deficit in the process. Schubert, who had an RBI-single in the inning, added to the Eagles' advantage in the fourth inning with an RBI-double as USI led 7-2.

Hillsdale (3-12), which used a two-run home run to take the first-inning lead, benefited from a three-run blast in the bottom of the fourth inning to cut the Eagles' advantage to 7-5. Schubert, however, had an RBI-single in the sixth inning to put USI in front, 8-5; while an RBI-double by sophomore catcher Courtney Schoolcraft and an RBI-single by senior shortstop Taylor Ricketts put USI up, 10-5, in the seventh.

Sophomore pitcher Katie Back was credited with the win in a relief appearance after holding the Chargers hitless through 3 2/3 innings of work. She had a pair of strikeouts and allowed just two base runners to pick up the victory.

USI 3, Winona State 2
Leonhardt struck out nine batters in the first three innings, but solo home runs in the second and third frames put the Eagles in a 2-0 hole. USI, however, responded in the last half of the fifth inning as it scored three two-out runs to take the lead.

Freshman second baseman Rachel Martinez pushed across the first run with a sacrifice fly. On the play, Leonhardt scored to tie the game at 2-2 as the ball that was thrown in from centerfield was mishandled by the third baseman. Junior outfielder Alicia Webb, for the second time in three days, followed Martinez with a solo home run to give the Eagles the lead—Webb hit a walk-off home run, the first long ball of her collegiate career, to give USI a 2-1 win over Northwood University two days earlier.

Leonhardt (7-3), meanwhile, dominated the remainder of the contest as she retired 13 of the final 14 batters she faced, picking up six more strikeouts in the process.

Notes
Leonhardt's 15 strikeouts were one shy of her career-high of 16, which she recorded in a 6-0 win over Dominican College (NY) on March 9, 2019...interestingly, that also was USI's final game of the 2019 Spring Games.

Up next
USI opens its 2020 Great Lakes Valley Conference schedule with its home-opener against No. 18 University of Indianapolis Saturday at noon. Both games will be aired live on the GLVC Sports Network, while live stats will be available on GoUSIEagles.com.