ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – The Lewis Flyer softball team scored four unanswered runs to rally for a 4-2 win over St. Cloud State on Wednesday morning in Clermont, Fla. The Flyers (9-6) defeated Wayne State (Neb.) 14-11 in nine innings in their second game of the morning in Clermont.
Game 1 – Flyers 4, St. Cloud State 2
Lewis fell behind 2-0 in the top of the first. With one out, Maya Keating singled to left, stole second and scored on Morgan Emmans double to left. Alexis Jacobs followed with a single to center and an error on the play alloed Emmans to score and Jacobs advanced to second.
Dara Sanders (Crestwood, Ill./Mother McAuley) avoided further damage getting Haley McFarlane to strike out swinging and Brooke Bowlin grounded out to third to end the inning.
The Flyers got a run back in the second. Sanders led off the inning with a walk and came into score on
Carley Maupin (Peotone, Ill./Peotone)'s double with two out. Maupin advanced to third but was left stranded. Lewis tied the game in the fifth. With one out,
Sarah DeMasi (Lockport, Ill./Lockport) doubled to right and advanced to third on a wild pitch.
Kaylee Prieto (Chicago, Ill./Marist) walked and stole second. After a groundout, DeMasi scored on a wild pitch to tie the game and Sanders followed with an RBI double to center scoring Prieto with the go-ahead run.
The Flyers tacked on an insurance run in the sixth.
Jessica Lofthouse (Oswego, Ill./Oswego) led off the inning with a walk, advanced to second on a sacrifice from Maupin and scored on
Emily Guske (Loves Park, Ill./Harlem)'s two-out infield single.
The Huskies (9-4) brought the tying run to the plate in the seventh but Sanders got Emmans to hit into a 6-3 double play. Jacobs followed with a single bringing the tying run to the plate again but Sanders got Bradi Yost to pop out to first to end the game.
Sanders had two hits in the contest to lead Lewis. Guske, DeMasi, Prieto and Maupin had a hit each. Sanders went the distance in the circle allowing two runs, one earned, on eight hits with two strikeouts and two walks to improve to 7-2.
Game 2 – Flyers 14, Wayne State (Neb.) 11 nine innings
The Flyers batted around in the first inning scoring six runs on six hits. Prieto drove in the first run of the game with a single to center to score Guske and then
Cierra Taylor (Tinley Park, Ill./Andrew) followed with a double to center scoring DeMasi and Prieto. Taylor advanced to third and scored on Lofthouse's single to left to make it 4-0. Maupin reached on a fielder's choice and then
Alexandra Piatt (Granger, Ind./Penn) walked.
Alise Perna (Naperville, Ill./Metea Valley) drove in two runs with a single to center to increase the lead to 6-0.
Lewis added to its lead with two more in the second on a two-run single from Lofthouse which scored DeMasi and Taylor. The Wildcats (4-7) answered with six runs on four hits and an error in its half of the second to cut the lead to 8-6. Emily Chandler had the big blow in the inning hitting a three-run homer.
Wayne State scored again in the third to cut the lead to 8-7. Abbie Hix led off the inning with a double and scored on Ashley Hernandez's single to left. Sanders came into relieve
Taylor Boelte (Rockton, Ill./Hononegah) and kept the Flyers ahead by retiring three of the next four hitters.
Lofthouse gave Lewis a two-run cushion driving in her fourth run of the game with a sacrifice fly in the fourth to score Prieto. The Flyers tacked on an insurance run in the sixth loading the bases with no one out and scoring on a fielder's choice to make it 10-7.
The Wildcats loaded the bases in the home half of the sixth and scored two runs to make it 10-9 but Sanders was able to leave the tying and go-ahead runs stranded. Wayne State tied the game with one out in the seventh on a solo home run by Jordyn Breitbarth.
The Flyers regained the lead in the top of the eighth on an RBI single from Lofthouse but the Wildcats tied the game in the bottom of the eighth on a single from Alyx Hagen. Lewis scored three times in the ninth to regain the lead. Maupin scored on a throwing error by the right fielder to make it 12-11. After an infield single, DeMasi doubled to left to score Piatt. Prieto added another insurance run with a groundout to first to score Guske. Sanders retired the Wildcats in order in the home half of the ninth.
Lewis finished with a season-high 17 hits in the contest and was led by DeMasi with four while Guske, Taylor and Lofthouse had three hits each. Sanders pitched the final seven innings to earn her seventh win of the season. She allowed four runs, three earned, on six hits with three strikeouts.
The Flyers will have Thursday off and then be back in action on Friday taking on Notre Dame College (Ohio) at 3:30 p.m. (CST) and Hillsdale at 6 p.m. (CST).
