SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – The Parkside softball team was looking for its fifth straight split on Sunday at No. 25 Illinois-Springfield after dropping game one 11-1, but the Prairie Stars came from behind to win game two 10-8 and hand Parkside a pair of losses.
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER: @UWPAthletics
Game one was very close for the first four innings, with UIS leading 2-1 after four innings of play after a solo home run by
Megan Aliverti in the bottom of the fourth. The Prairie Stars got hot in the final two innings, scoring four in the fifth inning and five in the sixth inning to make it an 11-1 ball game. Parkside was charged with three errors and finished with five hits, all of which came from different players.
Morgan Sikon had a double along with Aliverti's home run.
Allison Hausl suffered the loss in game one, pitching the first 5.1 innings while
Kate Czoschke finished out the final 0.2 innings.
Game two was back-and-forth, as the Rangers exploded for six runs in the bottom of the second inning to take a 6-0 lead.
Kellie Fenza got the scoring started in the inning with an RBI single to left field that scored Hausl.
Samantha Newtoff followed that with a two-run single to make it 3-0 and
Danielle Crockett hit a two-run double that scored Newtoff and Aliverti later in the inning. The final run of the inning came on an RBI single by Sikon.
After the third inning went scoreless, Illinois-Springfield scored on run in the fourth and then plated seven runs in the fifth inning after the Rangers allowed the first runner to reach on an error. UIS scored another in the top of the sixth inning, making it 9-7 at the time, but the Rangers made it a one-run game in the bottom of the sixth after
Jessica Shields scored on a passed ball. UIS added a final insurance run in the top of the seventh to take a 10-7 lead.
In the bottom of the seventh,
Jessica Miklos hit a one-out double to put the pressure on. After a walk,
Jessica Crull came to the plate as the winning run and hit a sacrifice fly that scored Miklos. UIS was able to pitch out of the jam and preserve the win.
Parkside had 11 hits in game two, as Fenza went 2-for-3, Crockett went 2-for-4 with two RBI and Sikon went 2-for-4. The Rangers used three pitchers in the game, as
Alyssa Hrncar pitched the first 4.0 innings and got a no decision.
Parkside is looking to host Lewis on Wednesday, April 18 at Case Softball Complex in a nonconference doubleheader.
