EVANSVILLE, Ind.—Sophomore first baseman Lexi Fair (Greenwood, Indiana) hit a walk-off solo home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to give No. 17 University of Southern Indiana Softball a 2-1, game-two victory and salvage a Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheader split with visiting McKendree University Saturday afternoon at the USI Softball Field.
McKendree (17-21, 9-13 GLVC) won the opener, 3-1, handing the Screaming Eagles their first home loss of the season, but USI’s win in the nightcap clinched a spot for the Eagles in the GLVC Tournament with two weeks to go in the regular season.
USI (32-10, 18-2 GLVC) had missed opportunities early in the opener as back-to-back strikeouts in the bottom of the first inning stranded runners at second and third.
The Bearcats, meanwhile, used GLVC batting average and home run leader Olivia Stansbury, a junior outfielder, to get its offense going. Shansbury had an RBI-single in the fifth and a two-run home run in the seventh to give McKendree a 3-0 lead.
USI struggled to get anything going offensively as the Eagles had 13 straight batters retired between the first and fifth innings and 17 of 18 before a lead-off single by senior designated player Katie Back (Indianapolis, Indiana) in the home half of the seventh gave the Eagles a glimmer of hope. A one-out single by junior pitcher/designated player Allie Goodin (Evansville, Indiana) two batters later gave USI runners at the corners.
Sophomore catcher Sammie Kihega (Greenfield, Indiana) hit a sacrifice fly to push across the first run and a two-out single by junior second baseman Rachel Martinez (Chicago, Illinois) in the next at bat had the game-tying run on base for Friday’s hero, senior third baseman Mary Bean (Schaumburg, Illinois)–Bean had a two-run home run in the seventh inning of USI’s 4-3 win over No. 5 University of Indianapolis Friday. After a lengthy at-bat, however, Bean grounded out on a 3-2 count to end the game and hand the Eagles their first loss at the USI Softball Field this season.
Goodin (7-2) was charged with the loss after giving up three runs off eight hits in 6 1/3 innings of work. She had seven strikeouts and two walks.
In game two, USI found itself playing catchup, once again, as Stansbury hit her 18th home run of the season over the left field fence in the top of the third inning.
The Eagles capitalized on an error in the bottom of the fourth inning as junior shortstop Jordan Rager (Fishers, Indiana) scored on an errand throw to tie the game at 1-1.
McKendree’s defensive miscue would prove costly as freshman pitcher Josie Newman settled in for a dominate effort in the pitcher’s circle.
Newman (11-3), who got the win, allowed just three hits and struck out 15 batters in eight innings. The home run in the third inning was the last hit she allowed as she retired 17 of the next 20 batters she faced, eight of which were via the strikeout.
The chances of USI winning the game in the eighth looked bleak as the Eagles were down to their last strike when Fair connected on her seventh home run of the season. Fair crushed the ball over the right field fence on an 0-2 count, giving USI its 10th walk-off win of the year and its fourth in extra innings.
USI returns to action next Saturday when it hosts Maryville University in a GLVC doubleheader at the USI Softball Field. The Eagles host Missouri University of Science & Technology for Senior Day the following day to wrap up their regular-season home schedule.
