USI (23-13, 11-3 GLVC) began the day with a 2-0 win in the opener before defeating the Cardinals, 11-5, in the nightcap.

Game 1
USI capitalized on a Leonhardt double to lead-off the third inning and score the first run, while Leonhardt’s RBI-double in the seventh gave her more than enough ammo to earn her 14th win of the year. Senior outfielder/pitcher Caitlyn Bradley (Forest, Indiana) drove in the first run with a sacrifice fly.

Leonhardt (14-4), meanwhile, continued her domination of opposing hitters as she struck out 10 batters while scattering four hits throughout seven innings of work to earn her eighth complete-game shutout of the year—Leonhardt also has had two combined shutouts this season. She has held the opposition scoreless in eight of her last nine starts and is currently sporting a 0.29 ERA in GLVC-only games.

Game 2
USI scored runs in the first, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh innings to breeze by William Jewell, 11-5, in the second game. Bradley had an RBI-single to push across the first run of the contest in the top half of the first inning, while a four-run fourth frame put the Eagles on top, 5-0.

Junior outfielder Allison Schubert (Nicholasville, Kentucky) had an RBI-single to start the scoring in the fourth frame, while a sacrifice fly by senior second baseman Claire Johnson(Pittsboro, Indiana) increased USI’s advantage to 3-0.

Leonhardt followed with a two-run double to make the score 5-0; while RBI-doubles by junior shortstop Taylor Ricketts (Georgetown, Kentucky) and freshman third baseman Mary Bean(Schaumburg, Illinois) in the fifth inning put the Eagles up 7-0.

William Jewell (16-14, 5-7 GLVC) took advantage of some defensive miscues in the last half of the fifth frame to score four runs, but a two-run single by sophomore first baseman Haley Shouse (Borden, Indiana) in the sixth, followed by RBI-singles off the bats of freshman Elissa Brown (Brownsburg, Indiana) and Bradley in the seventh, put an end to any thoughts of a William Jewell rally.

Senior pitcher Haylee Smith (Florence, Kentucky) earned the win in the circle, while Bradley was credited with her first save. Smith (4-1) gave up four runs, just one earned, off four hits in four-and-a-third innings of work, while Bradley allowed just one unearned run in two-and-a-third innings of work.

Up next
USI travels to Kansas City, Missouri, to take on Rockhurst University in a GLVC doubleheader. The Hawks (18-13, 7-5 GLVC) split a GLVC twin bill with visiting Bellarmine University Friday afternoon.