May 7, 2006

Box Score

EAST PEORIA, Ill. - The Flyers have advanced to the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championship game after coming from behind to defeat Northern Kentucky 5-3 in an elimination game, Saturday afternoon at the Eastside Centre.

A 2-1 loss to top-seeded Southern Illinois Edwardsville earlier in the day set up the elimination game with Northern Kentucky.

The Flyers will now play Southern Illinois Edwardsville for the conference championship on Sunday at 1 pm. Southern Illinois Edwardsville has yet to lose in the double-elimination tournament, so a second game will be played immediately after should the Flyers win the first.

In the Flyers' win over Northern Kentucky, Mallory Paine went 2-for-4 with two RBI, tying the Lewis single-season RBI record with 48. Paine's RBI single in the third inning was the first of four tallies in the frame after Lewis fell behind 3-0 over the first two innings of the game.

Paine then provided some insurance for the Flyers when she singled home Beth Shelus in the sixth inning.

Courtney Lyons (13-5) went the distance in the circle to notch the win. She gave up five hits while allowing only one earned run. Northern Kentucky scored two unearned runs in the first before getting a solo home run from Kara Lorenz in the second.

Shannon Roney (Wheaton, Ill./Glenbard South)'s RBI single with two out in the third proved to be the game-winner for the Flyers.

Amy Yusko hit a solo home run off Sabra McCune in the third inning of the game against Southern Illinois Edwardsville, but the Cougars rallied for two runs in the fourth to take the lead for good.

Alicia DeShasier, the GLVC's Player of the Year, put the Cougars on the board with a lead-off home run, and then Kaeleigh Rousey singled in another run after consecutive walks.

Julie Wingerter replaced Lewis starter Lisa Gartland after another walk in the fourth and worked out of a bases-loaded jam by retiring the next three batters. Wingerter finished the game with two more perfect innings, but McCune settled in and kept the Flyers off the board the rest of the way.