ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – The Lewis University softball team swept a pair of games against Illinois Springfield Sunday (March 28) at Lewis Softball Field, winning 8-5 and 11-10 in 10 innings. The Flyers move to 12-9 overall, 5-5 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, while the Prairie Stars fall to 9-19, 4-8 in the GLVC.
 
Katie David (Mapleton, Ill./Illini Bluffs) had five hits and five RBI to lead the offensive attack and also earned both wins in the circle, striking out nine batters on the afternoon. Elexis Swartzentruber (Normal, Ill./Normal Community) belted a pair of home runs and also totaled five RBI on the day.
 
Game One – Lewis 8 Illinois Springfield 5
Lewis scored three runs in the first as Kristin Kavalauskas (Oak Forest, Ill./Tinley Park) doubled home Cierra Taylor (Tinley Park, Ill./Andrew) and Swartzentruber hit a two-run home run, scoring Kavalauskas.
 
The Prairie Stars scored a run in the second, but the Flyers came back with four more runs in the third. David singled home Taylor and Sara Serena (Kankakee, Ill./Kankakee) belted a three-run home run to left field, scoring Swartzentruber and David.
 
UIS chipped away at the lead with a run in the fourth and three runs in the fifth to make it a 7-5 game.
 
The Flyers added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth when David helped her cause with a solo home run. She then sent the Prairie Stars down in order in the seventh to finish off the game.
 
David went 2-for-3 at the plate with two runs and two RBI and earned the win (4-4), going all seven innings, allowing five hits and four earned runs, striking out seven. Evey Evans (1-5) took the loss, allowing two hits and three earned runs in .1 inning.
 
Game Two – Lewis 11 Illinois Springfield 10
The Prairie Stars jumped out to a 2-0 lead with runs in the first and third innings. Lewis took the lead in the fourth on a three-run homer by Swartzentruber, scoring Taylor and Ella Jacobson (Tinley Park, Ill./Lincoln-Way East).
 
UIS moved back in front with two runs in the fifth inning and extended its lead to 5-3 with a run in the top of the sixth inning.
 
Lewis responded with five runs in the bottom of the sixth to regain the lead, 8-5. David singled home Kavalauskas and Olivia Magaldi (Mishawka, Ind./Penn) hit a grand slam, scoring Maggie Joutras (Shorewood, IL/Providence Catholic High School), David and Jalyn Powell (Tolono, Ill./Unity).
 
However, the Prairie Stars came right back with five runs in the top of the seventh to regain a two-run lead at 10-8.
 
The Flyers came back in the bottom of the seventh and loaded the bases with a single by Evie Calderon (Chicago, Ill./Whitney Young) and back-to-back errors. David then singled to left field, scoring Calderon and Kavalauskas. After a strikeout, Amy Bukovsky (Aurora, Ill./Montini Catholic) singled to load the bases with one out. But a pair of line outs sent the game into extra innings.
 
Neither team threatened in the eighth inning and the Flyers got two runners on with one out in the ninth, but couldn't push the winning run across. David again shut the Prairie Stars down in the top of the 10^th inning.
 
In the bottom of the 10^th, the Flyers had two outs when Jessica Lofthouse (Oswego, Ill./Oswego) doubled to left center field. Kavalauskas then found a hole in shallow left center for the game-winning hit, scoring Lofthouse.
 
David had three hits and three RBI, while Kavalauskas had two hits and scored twice and Swartzentruber added three RBI.
 
David (5-4) came on in relief to earn the win, allowing two hits and two earned runs in four innings. Kayana Diederich (2-4) suffered the loss, allowing eight hits and nine earned runs in nine innings.

The Flyers will take on Saint Xavier Thursday in a double header at 12 p.m. at Lewis.