GLVC CHAMPS! Eagles top Tritons for first title since 1998

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Thanks to a four-run second inning, University of Southern Indiana Softball can call itself Great Lakes Valley Conference Champions!

The Screaming Eagles (31-22) got a pair of two-run home runs from senior first baseman Marleah Fossett (Brownsburg, Indiana) and senior outfielder Olivia Clark-Kittleson (Carbondale, Illinois) in the top half of the second inning to put the Eagles up 4-0.

It was the second time in as many days that Fossett had hit a home run off of Missouri-St. Louis junior pitcher Carly Kingery—the 2017 All-American hit a grand slam to put USI up 5-0 in the Eagles’ win over the Tritons Friday—but it was the first career home run for Clark-Kittleson, who had not had an extra-base hit since her sophomore season in 2016.

Sophomore pitcher Jennifer Leonhardt (Louisville, Kentucky) turned out another strong performance in the circle as she allowed just two runs off six hits. Leonhardt (17-11) racked up eight strikeouts and did not issue a walk as she earned her third win of the weekend and crossed the 200 strikeout threshold for the year.

The Tritons (33-22), who had won the GLVC title in 2017 and four of the last five titles, got solo home runs off the bats of junior shortstop Reagan Osborn and senior catcher Jennah Perryman in the third and sixth innings, respectively, to cut the Eagles’ lead in half.

Missouri-St. Louis had the tying run on base with one out in the seventh, but Leonhardt induced a fielder’s choice groundout for the second out and a pop-up to sophomore shortstop Taylor Ricketts (Georgetown, Kentucky) for the final out.

USI’s win secured the program’s first GLVC championship since 1998 and the fourth in program history. It also marks the first time a No. 6 seed had captured the league title since Northern Kentucky University won the 2009 GLVC Tournament as the No. 6 seed.

The Eagles, who earn the automatic bid into the NCAA II Midwest Region Tournament, will turn their attention to Monday morning’s NCAA II Selection Show to find out their destination. The selection show takes place Monday at 9 a.m. (CDT) on www.ncaa.com.