The Monmouth College softball team picked up a sweep on Tuesday with 3-1 and 11-1 wins over Eureka College (1-10). The Fighting Scots (4-15) played the games at a neutral site in East Peoria after Eureka's home field was unplayable upon arrival.
GAME ONE
Karliegh Ashby (Monmouth, Illinois) and
Alexis Hardy (Rushville, Illinois) started the game with singles. They pulled off a double steal but both were left in scoring position.
Alyssa Hefflefinger (Olin, Iowa) pitched out of a jam of her own in the third. Eureka had second and third with one out but a strikeout and groundout kept the game scoreless. The Red Devils put the first two on base in the fourth but three straight outs ended the inning.
The Scots loaded the bases in the fifth but again came up empty. With one out,
Brooklyn Millhollin (Peoria, Illinois) singled,
Kerigan Lewis (Cambridge, Illinois) walked and Ashby singled. However, a strikeout and flyout ended the threat.
The game continued scoreless into the eighth inning. Ashby started the inning on second as the ghost runner and Hardy singled to put runners on the corners. Hardy stole second and
Savannah Powers (Volo, Illinois) gave the Scots a 1-0 lead with a single. With one out,
Mackenzie Gerard (Jacksonville, Illinois) made it 2-0 with a sacrifice fly before
Graci Guenther (Pekin, Illinois) walked.
Elizabeth Waymire (Havana, Illinois) made it 3-0 with a single before Eureka got out of the inning with two left on base.
Eureka got a run back in the bottom of the inning with a 1-out double against reliever
Lydia Overcash (Farmington, Illinois). A strikeout and a walk put the tying runs on base with two outs but Overcash got a line out to end the game.
Hefflefinger threw five shutout innings in a no-decision as she allowed six hits while striking out three. Overcash (2-4) picked up the win as she allowed one unearned run in three innings. She gave up two hits while walking two and striking out one.
GAME TWO
Eureka took an early lead with a double and single in the bottom of the first against Monmouth starting pitcher
Elizabeth Durfee (Arlington, Washington).
Gerard led off the second with a walk and Guenther reached on a bunt single. With one out, Millhollin put the Scots on top 2-1 with a single to left before Eureka got out of the frame.
Waymire doubled with one out in the fourth and moved to third on an error. Lewis walked and Ashby put the Scots up 3-1 with a single. Monmouth added on in the fifth.
Maddie Hepner (Alexis, Illinois) walked with one out and Gerard was hit by a pitch. Guenther singled to load the bases and Waymire drove in pinch runner
Meaghan Carpenter (Hanna City, Illinois) with a single. Lewis walked to bring home a run and Ashby picked up another RBI with a walk to give the Scots a 6-1 lead.
Durfee kept Eureka off the board and Monmouth put the game away in the seventh. Two errors brought Millhollin home and Lewis scored on a single by Powers. Hardy scored on a groundout by Hepner and Gerard singled home Powers for a 10-1 lead. After Guenther singled. Waymire drove in Gerard for an 11-1 lead.
Addie Greene (Rushville, Illinois).secured the final three outs for the 10-run win.
Durfee (2-3) picked up the win with one run allowed on seven hits over six innings of work. She struck out seven and walked one. Greene threw a shutout inning to close out the game with two hits allowed.
MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Ashby, Hardy, Powers, Guenther, Waymire, Millhollin each had hits in both games…Powers, Gerard and Waymire had RBI in both games…Hardy and Powers scored runs in both games…Ashby had two hits in game one, her ninth multi-hit game of the season…Hardy had her first multi-hit game of the season in game one and she added two hits in game two…Powers had her seventh multi-hit game of the season in game two and Guenther had her fifth…Waymire had three hits in game two to go with her third multi-RBI game…Ashby has four multi-RBI games after driving in two in game two…Lewis had her first collegiate RBI in game two…Durfee tied her season high for innings pitched while tying both her season and career high with seven strikeouts…With 119 strikeouts she ranks 10th in Monmouth history and Durfee also surpassed the 200 innings pitched mark on Tuesday…Ashby stole her 26th base, moving into a tie with Christine Hickey for fourth on the Scots career list…She is also tied for eighth on the career hit by pitches list..Game one was Monmouth's first extra-inning game of the season…The game one win snapped a 10-game losing streak…Monmouth leads the all-time series 30-18 with six straight wins…The Scots start Midwest Conference play at home on Good Friday with a 1 p.m. double header against Lake Forest.
