Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 The Upper Iowa University softball team split their Monday in Auburndale, Fla. at The Spring Games. In game one against Lewis University, the Peacocks fell 10-9 in a nine-inning game that saw six lead changes and three ties. Upper Iowa bounced back with a 6-2 win over Edinboro University of Pennsylvania in gave two to earn the split. UIU finished the day with a 6-6 record on the season and improved to a 4-1 mark at The Spring Games.
Lewis 10, Upper Iowa 9
Upper Iowa's clash with Lewis was a back-and-forth battle that ended in a walk-off, extra-inning win for the Flyers. Lewis took an early 2-0 lead after stringing together four straight two-out hits in the bottom of the first frame. The Peacocks looked to make an immediate answer as they loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the second, but the Flyers got out of the jam and kept UIU scoreless. The Peacocks persisted in their next time up to put three on with one out in the top of the third.
Calista Brockman and
Hannah Bridgewater earned RBIs thanks to a walk and reaching on an error, respectively, to tie the game at 2-2.
Sydney Wilcox hit an RBI single ahead of a two-RBI double from
Ari Charles in the ensuing at-bats, flipping the script and giving UIU a 5-2 lead through three after the defense sat the Flyers down in order.
Lewis added a run in the bottom of the fifth after reaching on an error, and the mishap proved to be costly as the Flyers added three more scores on consecutive two-out singles to go ahead 6-5 through five innings. Upper Iowa responded in the next half-inning as
Sara Jessie reached base after getting plunked and eventually scored on an RBI single from
Katie Crogan to even the score at six runs apiece.
Neither team took an edge through seven innings, so the teams needed extras to decide a winner. Charles was the runner on second to start the top of the eighth inning and gave UIU a quick 7-6 after
Samantha Jessie reached on a sacrifice bunt that scored Charles.
Kaylee Frenette singled ahead of a sacrifice bunt to put two Peacocks in scoring position with one out, but UIU could not add to their lead. Lewis pushed their ghost runner across in the bottom of the eighth to tie the score and send the game to the ninth inning. Charles notched her second two-RBI hit of the game to put Upper Iowa ahead in extra innings once again, scoring Crogan as the ghost runner and
Sophia Heckendorf after a single. However, UIU could not hold onto their 9-7 lead in the bottom of the ninth two singles from Lewis sandwiched a UIU error to tie the game before a walk-off fielder's choice clinched a 10-9 win for the Flyers.
Ari Charles led UIU by hitting .400 (2-5), scoring a run, and tallying a game and career-high four RBI. Seven of the ten Peacock batters came around to touch home plate, with
Sara Jessie and
Katie Crogan tying for the team lead with two runs.
Kaylee Frenette notched a team-high three hits in five at-bats in the leadoff spot.
Sydney Wilcox pitched all 8.1 innings, and just two of the ten runs allowed on her watch were earned after three UIU errors. Conversely, Lewis committed four errors and only three of their nine runs were earned.
Upper Iowa 6, Edinboro 2
The Peacocks did not let game one's heartbreaking defeat get them down as they took an early 1-0 lead against Edinboro in game two.
Sara Jessie and
Amelia Fitzgerald slapped a single and a double, respectively, before
Katie Crogan earned an RBI on a sacrifice fly to take the lead.
Rylee McGonigle sat the Fighting Scots down in order in the second and third innings before the same trio of Peacocks involved in the first-inning scoring got on the scoreboard again.
Sara Jessie reached on a hit-by-pitch to lead off the bottom of the third before Fitzgerald put UIU up 2-0 with an RBI double in the next at-bat. After hitting a fly ball that scored one but stayed in the park in the first inning, Crogan made a minor adjustment that led to a major result. She hit another fly ball in her second at-bat, but this one left the park over the center-field fence and put the Peacocks ahead 4-0. UIU put two on with one out, but the inning ended with the Peacocks holding their four-run edge.
Edinboro made a late push in the top of the sixth after a walk and a fielding error allowed them to put two on with one out. A double in the ensuing at-bat ended McGonigle's shutout bid and cut the UIU lead in half at 4-2, but a flyout and a popout ended the half-inning. The Upper Iowa offense looked like it might turn things over to the defense to close out the game with two quick outs in the bottom of the sixth, but UIU's same scoring trio got back in action with the help of a fourth addition.
Sara Jessie worked a walk ahead of a single from Fitzgerald to put two Peacocks on the pond with two outs, and Crogan picked up her fourth RBI with a single to give UIU a 5-2 lead.
Calista Brockman bashed an RBI-double in the next at-bat to score Fitzgerald and push the Peacock advantage back to four at 6-2 before the end of the inning. The UIU infield handled a lineout and a groundout to come within one out of the win, but a single and a HBP in consecutive at-bats put the tying run on deck for the Fighting Scots. The next batter made strong contact that looked like trouble, but
Sydney Wilcox made a diving grab in center field to clinch the 6-2 win for Upper Iowa.
Rylee McGonigle earned the first win of her collegiate career with a complete game performance. The freshman struck out five while walking just one and allowed no earned runs on four hits in her seven innings.
The trio of
Sara Jessie,
Amelia Fitzgerald, and
Katie Crogan combined to score all six of UIU's runs and tallied seven of the team's ten hits. Jessie finished hitting 2-2 with a team-high three runs, and she had a 1.000 on-base percentage after working a walk and getting hit by a pitch. Fitzgerald notched a game-high three hits in four at-bats (.750) while scoring two runs and adding an RBI. Crogan hit 2-2 with a game-high four RBI thanks to her sacrifice fly, a two-run round-tripper, and a single while also working a walk.
Up next, the Peacocks get a day off before playing their penultimate day in Auburndale, Fla. on Wednesday, Mar. 9. UIU is scheduled to face Walsh University (Ohio) at 9 a.m. CST (10 a.m. EST) before seeing Shippensburg University at 11:30 a.m. CST (12:30 p.m. local time).
