ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Evie Calderon (Chicago, Ill./Whitney Young) hit two home runs and drove in eight runs in Lewis' doubleheader sweep of Truman State on Friday afternoon at the Lewis Softball Field. The Flyers won the opener 11-8 and took the nightcap 10-2 in six innings.
Game 1 – Lewis 11, Truman State 8
The Bulldogs (7-22, 2-12 GLVC) jumped out to the early lead in the first game. Emma Walbert doubled to the gap in left center to lead off the contest, went to third on a fly out to right center and scored on a fielder's choice.
Lewis (15-15, 4-8 GLVC) answered with five runs in the second inning.
Meghan Bontrager (Milford, Ind./Northridge) scored the tying run when Lauren Stade dropped a throw at first that would have ended the inning.
Payton Wuske (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East) scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch and later in the inning Calderon hit a three-run homer to straight away center.
The Flyers added to their lead in the third inning with two more runs.
Jalyn Powell (Tolono, Ill./Unity) led off the inning with a double down the left field line, stole third and scored on a wild pitch to make it 6-1. Bontrager scored later in the inning on a wild pitch to extend the lead to six.
Truman rallied in the fourth inning scoring four runs on three hits and two Lewis errors. Maria McGonegle hit a three-run double to right center to clear the bases to make it 7-4. McGonegle scored later in the inning as Bontrager lost the grip on the ball trying to throw it back in after a single by Taylor Spencer.
The Bulldogs got another run in the fifth inning to make it 7-6 but left the bases loaded.
Truman scored twice in the seventh to take an 8-7 lead. Stade led off the inning with a solo home run to center and then later in the inning Kayla Quanstrum doubled down the left field line to drive in Macy Taylor with the go-ahead run.
The Flyers first two hitters in its half of the seventh were retired.
Delaney Garden (Carpentersville, Ill./H.D. Jacobs) started the rally with a single to center and then
Maggie Joutras (Shorewood, Ill./Providence Catholic High School) was hit in the foot to put the winning run on base. Calderon was down in the count 0-2 but battled and singled up the middle to drive in Garden with the tying run. Two pitches later
Sara Serena (Kankakee, Ill./Kankakee) hit a walk-off three-run homer to right center to end the game.
Lewis had eight hits in the contest and were led by Calderon with three while Garden added two. Garden got the win in the circle allowing a run on three hits with a strikeout to improve to 6-6 on the season.
Game 2 – Lewis 10, Truman State 2 6 innings
The Flyers jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the second inning. Wuske drove in Bontrager and
Carrie Anderson (Roscoe, Ill./Hononegah Community) with a triple to right center to drive in the first two runs. Wuske scored later in the inning on a wild pitch.
Gabi Nilles (North Aurora, Ill./West Aurora) and Garden had to back-to-back hits to put runners on the corner with two out. The duo pulled off a double steal as Nilles scored the fourth run of the inning.
The Bulldogs scored twice in the third as Cameryn Patterson doubled off the top of the fence in left center to drive in Walbert and Breianna Klein lined out to Bontrager in center to score Quanstrum.
Lewis broke it open in the fourth taking advantage of three straight walks to open the inning. Calderon hit her second home run of the afternoon with a grand slam to center to make it 8-2.
The Flyers added single tallies in the fifth and sixth innings to complete the run rule victory.
Lewis had nine hits in the second game and were led by Calderon, Garden and Anderson with two apiece. Garden picked up the win in the circle allowing two runs on six hits with a pair of strikeouts in the complete game effort to improve to 7-6 on the season.
The Flyers return to the diamond on Sunday (April 3) as it hosts Quincy in a doubleheader beginning at 12 p.m. at the Lewis Softball Field.
