Eagles punch ticket to GLVC Championship game

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Senior first baseman Marleah Fossett (Brownsburg, Indiana) hit a grand slam and sophomore pitcher Jennifer Leonhardt (Louisville, Kentucky) racked up 10 strikeouts as University of Southern Indiana Softball punched its ticket to the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championship Tournament for the first time since 2002 with a 6-1 win over the University of Missouri-St. Louis Friday afternoon.

The Screaming Eagles (30-22) scored five times in the bottom of the third inning to break a scoreless tie. They took advantage of a pair of errors to score their first run, while a walk and a hit batter sent Fossett to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs.

With a 2-1 count, Fossett hit a towering fly ball to right field that slowly drifted over the fence for her first-career grand slam and USI’s second of the year—junior second baseman Claire Johnson (Pittsboro, Indiana) hit a grand slam in USI’s 8-5 win over Quincy University on April 9.

Missouri-St. Louis (32-21) answered in the top of the sixth inning with a solo home run off the bat of senior catcher Jennah Perryman, but the Eagles answered with a tally in the home half of the sixth inning to retake a five-run advantage.

Fossett, who was 3-for-3 on the day, had a lead-off single in the sixth inning that led to USI’s sixth run of the contest. An error and a passed ball also contributed to the Eagles’ final tally.

Leonhardt (16-11) earned the win after scattering one run off five hits and a walk throughout seven innings of work.

The Eagles, who are looking for their fourth GLVC Tournament title and first since 1998, will face either Missouri-St. Louis or the University of Indianapolis Saturday at noon. The Greyhounds and Tritons are playing in the elimination bracket Friday evening. The Eagles will have two cracks at capturing the championship Saturday, while either Missouri-St. Louis or Indianapolis will need two wins.

Southern Indiana 6, Missouri-St. Louis 1 (May 04, 2018 at East Peoria, IL)

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Missouri-St. Louis.. 000 001 0 -  1  5  4      (32-21)

Southern Indiana…. 005 001 X -  6  6  0      (30-22)

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Pitchers: Missouri-St. Louis – Kingery, Carly; Tiffee, Andee(4) and Perryman, Jennah.

Southern Indiana – Leonhardt, Jennifer and Barr, Lindsey.

Win-Leonhardt, Jennifer(16-11)  Loss-Kingery, Carly(15-7)  T-1:47  A-87

HR UMSL – Perryman, Jennah (12).

HR USI – Fossett, Marleah (3).

Weather: 70s, sunny

Game: 52-GLVC

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