ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Lewis University's softball team split its non-conference doubleheader against Purdue Northwest on Wednesday afternoon at the Lewis Softball Field. The Pride won the opener 7-2 while the Flyers took the nightcap 7-1.

Game 2 – Lewis 7, Purdue Northwest 1
Lewis (21-21) sent eight batters to the plate in the bottom of the first scoring three runs on four hits. Evie Calderon (Chicago, Ill./Whitney Young) drove in the first two runs with a double to left center that scored Delaney Garden (Carpentersville, Ill./H.D. Jacobs) and Sara Serena (Kankakee, Ill./Kankakee). Carrie Anderson (Roscoe, Ill./Hononegah Community) followed with a double to right center to bring home Calderon.

The Flyers added to its lead in the fourth inning scoring four runs on four hits. Garden drove in two with a single off the fence in center scoring Payton Wuske (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East) and Maggie Joutras (Shorewood, Ill./Providence Catholic High School). Gabi Nilles (North Aurora, Ill./West Aurora) scored on a safety squeeze from Jalyn Powell (Tolono, Ill./Unity) and Serena drove in the final run of the inning with a single to right.

Purdue Northwest (21-11) got on the board in the fifth as Jocey Gault hit a solo home run to center to lead off the inning.

Lewis outhit the Pride 8-5 in the contest and were led by Garden and Wuske with two hits apiece. Calderon and Garden drove in two runs each. Wuske went the distance allowing one run on five hits with four strikeouts to improve to 8-6 on the season.

Game 1 – Purdue Northwest 7, Lewis 2
Purdue Northwest jumped out to the early lead scoring three runs on three hits and an error in the third inning. Jessica DeBoer led off the inning with a walk and scored on a throwing error by Jalyn Powell (Tolono, Ill./Unity) after an infield single by Myah Stuckey. With two out in the inning, Aubrey Shroyer and Allison Arnold executed a double steal with Shroyer scoring from third. Jocey Gault drove in the final run of the inning with double to left center scoring Arnold.

Lewis got a run back in its half of the third on Serena's single up the middle that scored Garden.

The Pride added to its lead with two runs on two hits and an error in the fifth. Shroyer drove in Stuckey with a double to right center and later in the inning Ashley Bravo drove in Shroyer with a groundout to second.

PNW tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the sixth as Shroyer drove in two more with a double to left center.

The Flyers scored their final run in their half of the sixth as Joutras and Nilles doubled back-to-back to make it 7-2.

Lewis was outhit in the contest 11-8 and was led by Nilles and Serena with two hits apiece. Garden took the loss in the circle allowing seven runs, four earned, on 11 hits with six strikeouts to fall to 9-9 on the season.

The Flyers are back at home on Saturday hosting Drury in a doubleheader beginning at 12 p.m. at the Lewis Softball Field. The team will honor seniors Courtney Mahalik (New Lenox, Ill./Providence Catholic) and Kristin Kavalauskas (Oak Forest, Ill./Tinley Park) after the doubleheader.