PEORIA, Ill. – Lewis' softball team split its two games at the Illinois Springfield Dome Tournament on Thursday at the Louisville Slugger Dome in Peoria, Ill. The Flyers (2-4) won the opener over Nebraska-Kearney but lost to Emporia State 10-9 in eight innings.
Lewis finished with 21 hits in the two games with
Kristin Kavalauskas (Oak Forest, Ill./Tinley Park),
Sara Serena (Kankakee, Ill./Kankakee) and
Cierra Taylor (Tinley Park, Ill./Andrew) recording four hits apiece while
Lauren Brennan (Cantonment, Fla./J.M. Tate) and
Morgan Weber (Sugar Grove, Ill./Kaneland) tallied three hits each.
Lewis 6 Nebraska-Kearney 4
The Flyers jumped out to an early 1-0 lead with a two out rally in the top of the first against the Lopers (1-9). Taylor started the rally with a single to short and then Serena followed with a single back up the middle. Kavalauskas was hit by a pitch to load the bases and
Olivia Magaldi (Mishawka, Ind./Penn) walked to bring home Taylor. Lewis had a chance for more but a strikeout ended the threat.
UNK answered the Flyers tally with a two out rally of its own in the bottom half of the inning. Sara Sempek singled and Cheyenne Hamilton followed with a double down the left field line to bring home Sempek.
Dara Sanders (Crestwood, Ill./Mother McAuley) then got a groundout to end the inning.
Lewis regained the lead in the third sending nine batters to the plate scoring three runs on three hits. Brennan drove in the first run with a single to right to score Serena. With one out,
Maddy Beck (Racine, Wis./Case), pinch hitting for
Alexandra Piatt (Granger, Ind./Penn), walked to bring home Kavalauskas and then Weber singled through the left side of the infield to drive home Magaldi. Lewis again had a chance for more but left the bases loaded.
The Lopers got a run back in the fifth to cut the Flyer lead in half but Lewis answered right back with two in the top of the sixth to extend its lead to 6-2. Taylor drove in Weber with a single and then two batters later Kavalauskas singled through the left side to score Taylor from second.
UNK cut the deficit to 6-4 on a two-run homer from Carlee Liesch with one out in the bottom of the sixth. Serena came on in relief of Sanders to record the second out but an infield single and a hit by pitch put the tying runs on base. Serena got the final out of the frame by striking out Emma Osowski.
Serena worked around a two out single in the seventh to preserve the win and pick up her second save of the season.
Taylor, Serena and Kavalauskas combined for six of the eight hits in the contest with four runs scored and two runs batted in. Sanders went the first 5.1 innings allowing four runs on 10 hits with five strikeouts and two walks to improve to 1-2 on the year.
Emporia State 10 Lewis 9 (8 innings)
The Flyers let an early five run lead slip away as the bats went cold for a couple of innings which allowed the Hornets (3-10) to climb back into the contest.
ESU scored first on a sacrifice fly with no one out in the first but Lewis scoring four runs on six hits in the home half of the first. Serena drove in the first two with a double to right center bringing in Weber and Taylor. Sanders singled to left to drive in Serena and Brennan doubled to right center to drive in Kavalauskas.
The Flyer extended their lead to 6-1 in the third. Serena and Kavalauskas led off the inning with back-to-back doubles and then with two outs
Jessica Lofthouse (Oswego, Ill./Oswego) singled to center to score Kavalauskas.
The Hornets scored three times in the fourth, added two unearned runs in the fifth and scored three times in the sixth to take a 9-6 lead.
Lewis tied the game in its half of the sixth. With one out, Weber singled and scored on Magaldi's two-run homer to center to make it 9-8. Taylor followed with a solo shot to right center to even the score.
Neither side scored in the seventh which sent the game to extra innings. In the eighth, the Hornets scored the go-ahead run on a sacrifice bunt and a dropped ball to go up 10-9. The Flyers had the tying run at third with one out in their half of the eighth but a groundout and a fly out ended the game.
Lewis finished the nightcap with 13 hits with Weber, Taylor, Serena, Kavalauskas and Brennan recording two each. Magaldi and Serena each drove in two runs.
Serena got the start allowing four runs on seven hits in four innings of work with three walks.
Taylor Boelte (Rockton, Ill./Hononegah) came on relief and went two innings allowing five runs, three earned, on six hits. Sanders went the final two innings allowing an unearned run without giving up a hit to fall to 1-3 on the season.
The Flyers are back in action on Friday playing their final two games at the UIS tournament. They take on Central Missouri at 9 a.m. and then will play Lindenwood at 3:30 p.m.
