University of Southern Indiana Softball settled for a Great Lakes Valley Conference doubleheader split with visiting Drury University Sunday afternoon at the USI Softball Field.
The Screaming Eagles won the opener, 6-1, before suffering a 2-0 shutout loss in the nightcap.
Sophomore pitcher/designated player Allie Goodin (Evansville, Indiana) and sophomore catcher Sammie Kihega (Greenfield, Indiana) each went a combined 2-for-6 with a double and an RBI to pace USI at the plate.
Game 1: USI 6, Drury 1
USI continued its offensive onslaught that it saw in its previous four games as it racked up nine hits en route to a 6-1 win in the opener.
The Eagles broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the fourth inning when sophomore pitcher/designated player Katie Back (Indianapolis, Indiana) drove in junior Mikayla Domico (Naperville, Illinois) with an RBI-groundout. Domico pinch ran for freshman first baseman Lexi Fair (Greenwood, Indiana), who doubled to lead-off the frame.
Fair also had a two-run single in a fifth inning that saw the Eagles erupt for five tallies. USI sent 10 batters to the plate and took advantage of a pair of Drury errors as it upped its advantage to 6-0. Kihega started the scoring with an RBI single, while Fair’s two-run single put USI up 4-0. Goodin followed two batters later with an RBI-single, while junior third baseman Mary Bean (Schaumburg, Illinois) had an RBI-single to put an exclamation point on the inning.
Drury (21-10, 15-5 GLVC) capitalized on a USI error to score a run in the seventh, but USI held on for its sixth straight win.
Goodin (6-5) earned the win after giving up one unearned run off seven hits. She struck out eight batters, while issuing just one walk.
Game 2: Drury 2, USI 0
Drury capitalized on a lead-off single in the first to score a run and three-straight one-out singles in the sixth to tack on another score as the Panthers blanked the Eagles, 2-0, in the nightcap.
USI had a lead-off single in the bottom of the first, a one-out double in the second and got the lead-off hitters aboard in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings. The Eagles, however, could not push a run across the plate as they left six players on base en route to their first loss in seven outings.
Back (4-8) took the tough-luck loss despite a strong outing. She allowed two runs off five hits in 5.1 innings of work but was dominate from the tail end of the first through the fifth innings, allowing just one base runner until surrendering the three straight singles in the sixth.
