Somers, Wis. – The UW-Parkside pitching staff was sharp on Sunday afternoon in a doubleheaders split against second-place Southern Indiana. Kristin Kleinmeyer earned her first victory of the year with a 4-1 win in game two. Kelynn Sporer also allowed just one run in the opener but the Rangers fell, 1-0.
 
The Ranger duo combined to allow just two runs on eight hits for the entire doubleheader. Lauren Vitiello had two hits and drove in two with a home run in the victory.
 
Parkside, who is now 2-14 in Great Lakes Valley Conference play, will be back at home next weekend with a pair of doubleheaders. They'll host Northern Kentucky at noon on Saturday before welcoming Bellarmine at noon Sunday.
 
Game One (Box Score)
Sporer and Brooke Harmening matched zeroes throughout except for a lone blemish for Parkside in the third inning. A one-out single for Kara Werner drove in Katherine Belsito to give the Screaming Eagles a 1-0 lead.
 
The Rangers put a run on base in the final six innings, including five in scoring position, but couldn't push the run across. Natalie Shank led off the fifth with a hit and was sacrificed to third by Cecie Portillo. But Harmening came back to retire the next two hitters to get out of the inning.
 
Sporer pitched out of a seventh inning jam by stranding runners at second and third to give the Rangers a chance.
 
Bridget Walters started the final inning with a double to set the table. Harmening was up to the task however as she got the final three hitters to take game one.
 
Walters had two hits to lead the Ranger attack. Sporer was the tough-luck loser allowing just one run and four hitters over seven innings. She struck out four and walked two.
 
Game Two (Box Score)
Kleinmeyer got off to a great start in game two as she allowed just one hit through the first four innings. She got herself out of a bases loaded jam in the third by inducing a pair of pop-ups to keep the game scoreless.
 
Parkside broke through in the fourth after Vitiello reached with a single to begin the inning. Kira Cooper came in to pinch run and immediately moved to second on a bunt by Kirsten Luevano.
 
Walters continued her hot day with a single to center, scoring Cooper, and giving the Rangers a 1-0 lead.
 
They all but put things away in the fifth inning by scoring three more times. Jessica Norton walked to start the inning and advanced on another Portillo sacrifice. She came around to score with two away on an errant throw by the third baseman.
 
Vitiello really made the error hurt as she launched a two-run homer, her second of the season, to make it 4-0.
 
From there it was all Kleinmeyer. The sophomore allowed a solo home run to start the seventh but retired the next three hitters to record the win. For the game she yielded just one run on four hits. She finished with four strikeouts and just one walk.
 
Vitiello was 2-for-3 with two RBI. The Rangers ended the game with five hits.