Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mark Albanese, Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Media Relations

Game One Box Score

Game Two Box Score

LEBANON, Ill. (Mar. 22, 2014)-- The University of Wisconsin-Parkside softball team opened divisional play on Saturday afternoon at Bearcat Field, salvaging a doubleheader split with Great Lakes Valley Conference East Division rival McKendree University. The Rangers prevailed 7-6 in the opener before stumbling 2-1.

The Rangers (1-9, 1-3 GLVC) belted out 13 hits in the opener, seizing the 7-6 victory. UW-Parkside opened the scoring in the third inning, plating four runs. A Kirsten Luevano sacrifice fly plated Lexi Sotiros, who led off the frame with a single before a Colleen Cummings sac fly scored Kalli Gosser. Carlee Dundee belted in a pair, giving the visitors the 4-0 advantage.

The Bearcats (8-11, 3-5 GLVC) answered with four runs in the bottom of the third before Parkside reclaimed the lead in the fourth inning with Sotiros scoring on a passed ball.

McKendree grabbed the lead in the fifth with two runs before the Rangers claimed a pair of runs off a Luevano home run in the sixth to secure the 7-6 win.

Kira Cooper paced the Rangers at the plate, finishing three-for-five while Gosser was three-for-four. Dundee finished two-for-four while Luevano claimed four RBIs.

Dundee tallied the complete game win, striking out four in seven innings of work.

In the nightcap, McKendree pushed across a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh to salvage a series split.

The Rangers opened the scoring in the fifth with an Emily Hastings double scoring Cummings. McKendree answered in the seventh with a two-out single knotting the score at 1-1 before Kelsie Stoszkus singled in the winning run.

Four of the Rangers' six hits came off the bats of Cooper and Cummings, who both finish two-for-three at the dish. Hayley Schneider suffered the loss in the circle, lasting 6 2/3 innings and striking out one. Stoszkus, who belted in the winning score, claimed the win, striking out three in seven innings of action.

The Rangers return to the diamond on Sunday at 12 p.m., taking on the University of Illinois Springfield.