ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Lewis University's softball team split its doubleheader at Illinois Springfield on Friday afternoon at Spartan Park in Chatham, Ill. The Prairie Stars (19-10, 3-6 GLVC) won the opener 7-3 and the Flyers (11-15, 2-8 GLVC) took the nightcap 13-7.
Game 1 – Illinois Springfield 7, Lewis 3
Lewis jumped out to a three lead in the first inning of the opener.
Maggie Joutras (Shorewood, Ill./Providence Catholic High School) drove in
Gabi Nilles (North Aurora, Ill./West Aurora) with a bases loaded walk,
Evie Calderon (Chicago, Ill./Whitney Young) scored on a wild pitch and
Sara Serena (Kankakee, Ill./Kankakee) scored on an error by the center fielder.
UIS scored two runs on four hits and an error in its half of the first two cut the Flyer lead to 3-2.
The Prairie Stars tied the game in the second on a single from Carly Chovanec that scored Grace Harris with the tying run.
UIS scored two runs on two hits two errors in the third to take a 5-3 lead Kelsie Burrows drove in the go-ahead run and then later in the inning Carolyn Frank scored on an error by Nilles.
The Prairie Stars added a pair of insurance runs in the fourth to seal the victory.
Lewis was held to five hits in the contest with Serena recording three of them while Nilles and Calderon had a hit apiece.
Delaney Garden (Carpentersville, Ill./H.D. Jacobs) took the loss in the circle allowing seven runs, six earned, on 10 hits
with five strikeouts to drop to 5-6 on the season.
Game 2 – Lewis 13, Illinois Springfield 7
The Flyers jumped out to the early lead again scoring three runs on four hits in the top of the first. Calderon drove in the first run with an infield single to second, Serena drove in a bunt single to drive in Garden with the second run and then Calderon scored as UIS threw the ball around on the infield.
The Prairie Stars scored twice in the fourth to cut the lead to one and then took the lead with five runs on six hits in the fifth to take a 7-3 lead. Danielle Dennis had the big hit in the fifth driving in two runs with a single.
Lewis sent 14 batters to the plate in the sixth inning and scored nine runs on six hits and two errors. Nilles tied the game with a two-run single scoring
Courtney Mahalik (New Lenox, Ill./Providence Catholic) and
Payton Wuske (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East). Garden followed with a single to score
Leah Mokos (Cedar Lake, Ind./Hanover Central) and give the Flyers an 8-7 lead. Serena drove in two more with a single to make it 10-7. Calderon scored on a wild pitch and Wuske drove in Joutras with a single to extend the lead to 12-7.
Lewis added an insurance run in the seventh as Serena drove in her fourth run of the game for the final margin.
The Flyers had 13 hits in the nightcap and were led by Serena with three while Nilles, Garden, Calderon and Wuske had two hits apiece. Wuske picked up the win allowing seven runs, six earned, on 11 hits with seven strikeouts to improve to 5-3 on the season.
Lewis returns to the diamond on Tuesday (March 29) as it travels to Big Rapids, Mich., for a non-conference doubleheader against Ferris State beginning at 1 p.m. (CDT).
