University of Southern Indiana Softball hit a season-high three home runs in a 7-2 Midwest Region win over Walsh University Tuesday afternoon at The Spring Games. The win gave the Screaming Eagles a split on the day after they fell to Midwest Region opponent Ashland University, 10-3, in a soggy first game.
Sophomore outfielder Alicia Webb (Elberfeld, Indiana) went a combined 4-of-6 at the plate with a double and two runs scored to lead the Eagles, offensively, while senior second baseman Claire Johnson (Pittsboro, Indiana) with a triple, home run and three RBIs.
The Eagles return to action Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. (CST) when they take on 2017 national champion Minnesota State University Mankato. USI also plays No. 1 Saint Anselm College Wednesday at 3 p.m. in a rematch of last year’s NCAA II National Championship Series. Both games will be aired live on 95.7 The Spin.
Ashland (6-3) 10, USI 3
After taking a 3-2 lead with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth inning, USI watched Ashland scored eight unanswered runs to steal the 10-3 win.
USI struck first on an RBI-triple by Johnson in the third inning, but a solo home run in the bottom of the third tied the game at 1-1. Ashland took advantage of a passed ball and a defensive miscue to score a run in the fourth and take a 2-1 lead, but a two-run fifth inning that featured an RBI-single by Johnson and a sacrifice fly by junior pitcher/third baseman Jennifer Leonhardt (Louisville, Kentucky) put the Eagles up 3-2.
Ashland, however, had a lead-off single and capitalized on an error to get two on with no outs in the last half of the fifth. An RBI-double tied the score in the next at bat, while Ashland’s Dayna Dennard hit a three-run home run to give the Ashland Eagles a 6-3 lead.
USI surrendered another run in the fifth and three more in the sixth as it suffered its third straight loss.
Leonhardt (5-3) was charged with the loss after giving up six runs, four earned, off five hits and three walks in four-plus innings of work. Wet conditions hampered her efforts throughout the contest.
USI 7, Walsh (1-9) 2
USI got two-run home runs from junior outfielder Allison Schubert (Nicholasville, Kentucky) and senior catcher Lindsey Barr(Whitesville, Kentucky) in the bottom of the first and second innings, respectively, to take a 4-2 lead over the Cavaliers.
A solo home run by Johnson to lead off the fifth followed by a sacrifice fly senior outfielder/pitcher Caitlyn Bradley (Forest, Indiana) later in the frame extended USI’s lead to 6-2; while an RBI, pinch-hit single by freshman pitcher Elissa Brown(Brownsburg, Indiana) in the sixth wrapped up the scoring.
Bradley (2-2) earned the complete-game win after giving up two runs off nine hits in seven innings of work.
