University of Southern Indiana Softball settled on a Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheader split with visiting Quincy University Sunday on Alumni Day.
The Screaming Eagles (19-13, 7-3 GLVC) grabbed an 8-0, five-inning win over the Hawks in the opener before losing 6-5 in the nightcap.
USI returns to action Monday at noon when it takes on Truman State University in a GLVC doubleheader. The Bulldogs (16-7, 4-6 GLVC) split a GLVC doubleheader with host Bellarmine University Sunday in Louisville, Kentucky.
Game 1
USI racked up three hits en route to a three-run first inning and an 8-0 win in the opener. Sophomore outfielder Alicia Webb (Elberfeld, Indiana) drove in the first run with an RBI-single, while an RBI-single by senior outfielder/pitcher Caitlyn Bradley (Forrest, Indiana) put USI up 2-0.
Senior catcher Lindsey Barr (Whitesville, Kentucky) capped the inning off with an RBI double to put the Eagles up, 3-0.
A two-out, solo home run by Bradley in the third inning put the Eagles up, 4-0, while an RBI-single by Webb in the fourth frame made the score 5-0. USI erupted for four hits in the last half of the fifth inning as the Eagles scored three-times to win via the eight-run rule.
Bradley had a lead-off double, then came around to score the first run on an RBI-single by sophomore first baseman Haley Shouse (Borden, Indiana). Junior shortstop Taylor Ricketts (Georgetown, Kentucky) drove in the second run with a sacrifice fly, while senior second baseman Claire Johnson(Pittsboro, Indiana) had a walk-off, RBI-single in the next at-bat to secure the win.
Junior pitcher Jennifer Leonhardt (Louisville, Kentucky), meanwhile, dominated Quincy’s lineup throughout the contest. The Hawks got two hits of Leonhardt in the first inning, but the All-American settled down to allow just three more baserunners throughout the final four innings.
Leonhardt (12-4) racked up eight strikeouts and scattered four hits throughout five frames to earn her sixth complete-game shutout of the year (she has had two more combined shutouts) and her sixth shutout in her last seven starts.
Game 2
USI took advantage of a pair walks to lead-off the last half of the second frame as well as an error to score the first run of the game.
Quincy (14-14, 4-6 GLVC), however, hit back-to-back home runs in the third inning to take a brief 2-1 advantage. USI answered with a solo home run off the bat of Johnson to tie the score at 2-2 in the bottom of the third inning, but a single and a double to lead off the fourth inning led to another Quincy tally and a 3-2 lead for the visitors.
The Eagles, however, battled back, capitalizing on another Quincy error, one of four on in the game, to tie the score on a sacrifice fly by Johnson in the last half of the fourth.
Johnson put the Eagles up, 4-3, in the sixth with her second long ball of the day, bringing her season total to four, while an RBI-single by Bradley later in the frame put USI up 5-3.
The Hawks, however, took advantage of a one-out walk and an error in the top half of the seventh inning to score three times and retake the one-run advantage.
USI had runners at first and second with two outs in the last half of the seventh, but could not push across the tying run.
The Eagles left 12 runners on base in the game, including runners at second and third in the second inning and the bases loaded in the third.
Bradley (4-5) was charged with the loss in a relief appearance after giving up three runs, all unearned, off three hits in two-and-two-thirds innings of work.
