University of Southern Indiana Softball rallied from a three-run deficit to earn a 5-4, nine-inning win over Midwest Region foe Ashland University Sunday evening. The win gave the No. 13 Screaming Eagles a split to the second day of The Spring Games after USI suffered a 1-0 setback to the University of Minnesota-Duluth in its opener.
USI continues The Spring Games Monday when it takes on Wilmington University (Delaware) at 5 p.m. (CST) as well as another Midwest Region foe in No. 7 Grand Valley State University at 7:30 p.m.
Minnesota-Duluth (4-5) 1, Southern Indiana (9-3) 0
Minnesota-Duluth got a walk-off single from outfielder Jayme Langbehn in the bottom of the seventh inning to hand USI a 1-0 setback in its first game of the day.
The Eagles, who left eight runners on base, stranded runners at second and third in both the second inning and the fourth inning. They also left a runner at second base in the fifth and seventh frames.
Sophomore pitcher Courtney Atkisson (Bringhurst, Indiana) was charged with the loss after giving up one run off seven hits. Atkisson (3-2) struck out three batters, but a lead-off walk in the seventh frame eventually turned into the winning run.
Junior first baseman Marleah Fossett (Brownsburg, Indiana) led the Eagles at the plate, going 2-for-2 with a double and a single. She also was hit by a pitch.
Southern Indiana: 5, Ashland (2-4): 4
USI rallied from a 3-0 deficit to earn a 5-4, nine-inning victory over Midwest Region foe Ashland.
After spotting Ashland (2-4) three runs in the top of the second inning, the Screaming Eagles slowly chipped away at the Ashland Eagles’ advantage.
The Screaming Eagles got an RBI-groundout from senior catcher Haley Hodges (Portage, Indiana) to get on the scoreboard in the last half of the third inning. Junior third baseman Mena Fulton (Bloomington, Indiana) hit an RBI-double in the fifth inning to cut Ashland’s lead to just one run, while senior shortstop Lexi Reese (Lebanon, Indiana) tied the contest at 3-3 with an RBI-single in the sixth inning.
After a scoreless seventh inning, Ashland retook a one-run lead as it used the international tie-breaker rule—the batter who made the last out in the previous inning is placed on second base to begin the extra innings—to build a 4-3 lead.
USI responded in the bottom of the eighth as sophomore utility player Caitlyn Bradley (Forest, Indiana) pushed the tying run across the plate with a single.
After the Screaming Eagles held Ashland off the scoreboard in the top of the seventh inning, USI got a sacrifice bunt off the bat of Reese to push USI’s international tie-breaker runner—freshman pitcher Jennifer Leonhardt (Louisville, Kentucky)—to third base.
Fossett followed with a one-out, walk-off single to push Leonhardt across the plate and give the Screaming Eagles the 5-4 victory.
Leonhardt (4-1) earned the win after giving up four runs, just one earned, off five hits in nine innings of work. She also had 11 strikeouts, while going 2-of-4 from at the plate with a double.
