SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Lewis' softball team split its doubleheader at Drury on Sunday afternoon taking the opener 4-3 and dropping the nightcap 8-1 at Thompson Field in Springfield, Mo. The Flyers move to 22-15, 13-11 GLVC while the Panthers are now 23-12, 17-7 GLVC.

Gabi Nilles (North Aurora, Ill./West Aurora) led Lewis at the plate in the doubleheader going 3-5 with a home run, an RBI and two runs scored. Sara Serena (Kankakee, Ill./Kankakee), Elexis Swartzentruber (Normal, Ill./Normal Community), Jessica Lofthouse (Oswego, Ill./Oswego) and Cierra Taylor (Tinley Park, Ill./Andrew) each had two hits.

Game One – Lewis 4 Drury 3
The Flyers jumped on top in the opener on Swartzentruber's two-run homer to right field scoring Lofthouse.

Drury got a run back in the bottom of the first as Kinzy Mathis scored on a wild pitch.

The Panthers took the lead in the second on Sydney Sneed's two run to left.

Lewis tied the game in the third as Nilles and Taylor led off the inning with back-to-back singles. Lofthouse advanced both runners with a sacrifice bunt to first. Kristin Kavalauskas (Oak Forest, Ill./Tinley Park) tied the game with a single to first. The Flyers had a chance to grab the lead, but Taylor was tagged out at the plate on a fielder's choice.

Lewis retook the lead in the fifth inning on Nilles homer to right to lead off the inning.

Katie David (Mapleton, Ill./Illini Bluffs) retired nine of the final 10 Drury hitters she faced yielding just a one out double in the fifth inning.

Nilles led the Flyers with three hits in the contest while Taylor had two hits and Kavalauskas, Swartzentruber and Serena had a hit apiece.

David picked up the win allowing three runs on six hits with four strikeouts in the complete game effort to pick up the win and improve to 12-6 on the season.

Game Two – Drury 8 Lewis 1
Lewis took the lead in the second game on Lofthouse's solo home run to left field.

The Panthers came right back scoring five runs on four hits in its half of the first. Lauren Beier had the big hit in the inning with a two-run single scoring Mathis and Abby Tiemann to make it 3-1.

Drury added three more runs in the second to make it 8-1. Beier and Grace King each drove in a run with a hit by pitch with the bases loaded while Hannah Chambliss drove in a run with a single to left.

The Flyers had six hits in game two and were led by Lofthouse with two.

Serena got the start in the circle in game two pitching two innings allowing eight runs on seven hits to fall to 5-4. Payton Wuske (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East) pitched the final four innings allowing three hits while striking out two.

Lewis returns to the diamond next Saturday (May 1) hosting Missouri S&T in a doubleheader beginning at noon at the Lewis Softball Field.