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Annika Brown on defense
© AshtinElder
1
Ill. Wesleyan ILL. WES 1-2
4
Winner Simpson SIMPSON 1-0
Ill. Wesleyan ILL. WES
1-2
1
Final
4
Simpson SIMPSON
1-0
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Ill. Wesleyan ILL. WES 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 2
Simpson SIMPSON 3 0 1 0 0 0 X 4 3 0

W: E. LaFave (1-0) L: Holland, Mallory (0-2)

6
Winner Simpson SIMPSON 2-0
4
Ill. Wesleyan ILL. WES 1-3
Winner
Simpson SIMPSON
2-0
6
Final
4
Ill. Wesleyan ILL. WES
1-3
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Simpson SIMPSON 1 0 3 0 1 0 1 6 9 2
Ill. Wesleyan ILL. WES 0 0 0 3 0 1 0 4 8 0

W: A. Breckner (1-0) L: Gatchell, Caroline (0-1) S: M. Cronin (1)

Game Recap: Softball |

Softball Swept by Simpson

Titans to face UW-Eau Claire & St. Kate’s tomorrow, March 1

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. - The Illinois Wesleyan University softball team dropped both ends of a doubleheader to Simpson College Saturday, Feb. 28. The Titans (1-3) were handed losses by scores of 4-1 and 6-4 by the Storm (2-0) on day one of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire's home tournament inside the Blugolds' fieldhouse.

Game One: Illinois Wesleyan 1, Simpson 4
The Titans outhit the Storm, 5-3, in game one, but four unanswered runs lifted Simpson to the win. Sophomore Grace Wilkens (Bartlett, Ill.-Bartlett) led the offense with a 2-for-3 showing in the leadoff spot, while scoring IWU's lone run. Three other Titans also notched hits, with senior Claire Post (Normal, Ill.-Normal West) registering the RBI.

With Grace Wilkens on second after a single and a steal, Post roped a single to center to put Wilkens in motion and pressure on the Storm outfield. The throw-in bounced out of play to plate the game's first run as IWU moved ahead, 1-0.

Simpson came right back with a three-run bottom half of the frame, using two singles and an error to climb in front. The leadoff batter was hit by a pitch and promptly swiped second before scoring on a single up the middle. After an error gave the Storm runners on the corners, another screamer just out of the reach of the Titans plated another run. One more came across on a first-and-third as a throw down to second got away, allowing Simpson to grab a 3-1 edge.

Trailing 4-1 after the Storm tacked on an insurance run in the third, sophomore Kelsey Bartels (Downs, Ill.-Tri-Valley) beat out a pinch-hit single to start the top of the seventh. A fielder's choice moved a runner to second with one away, but the Green and White saw the rally halted with a groundout and a flyout.

Junior Mallory Holland (Shelbyville, Ill.-Shelbyville) went the distance in the circle. She tossed all 6.0 innings, allowing just three hits, but was tagged for four runs, three earned. Holland struck out one and beamed another as she slipped to 0-2 on the year.

Game Two: Simpson 4, Illinois Wesleyan 6
Illinois Wesleyan spotted Simpson a 4-0 lead in game two, before the bats awoke in the bottom of the fourth. Freshman Isabella Boskey (Huntley, Ill.-Huntley) started the one-out rally with the first hit of her collegiate career, a knock to right-center. After an error put two on, junior Annika Brown (Bloomington, Ill.-Normal Community) singled to load the bases. Senior Anna Beckman (Bourbonnais, Ill.-Bishop McNamara) drew a walk to bring home a run and an error plated another to cut the deficit in half, 4-2. Sophomore Riley McDoniel (Orland Park, Ill.-Carl Sandburg) bounced an RBI in on a fielder's choice to pull IWU within one, 4-3. The Titans drew another walk to load the bases once again, but a grounder to third stranded three. 

The Storm got a run back in the fifth courtesy of a solo homer, but the Green and White went right back at it with the bats in the bottom of the fifth. 

Sophomore Jillan Bollard (Roselle, Ill.-Saint Viator) dropped a single into the left-center gap, and after stepping in to pinch run, junior Margo Geary (St. Charles, Ill.-St. Charles North) swiped second. Boskey walked to put two on with nobody out, however a double play spoiled the scoring chance. 

Illinois Wesleyan scraped across a run on a wild pitch in the sixth and Simpson responded with a bases-loaded walk to reclaim a two-run advantage, 6-4. 

A two-out walk brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the seventh before a fly out ended the game. 

Overall, Simpson edged out Illinois Wesleyan nine hits to eight. McDoniel went 3-for-4 in the two-hole, while Wilkens, McDoniel, and Beckman drove in runs. Post and junior Hailey Milgazo (Poway, Calif.-Poway) each walked twice.

Senior Caroline Gatchell (Grayslake, Ill.-Carmel Catholic) threw all seven innings as the pitcher of record. She fanned four while allowing six runs on nine hits.

The Titans get right back at it tomorrow, March 1, with games against UW-Eau Claire and St. Catherine University. IWU faces host UWEC at 9 a.m. before battling St. Kate's at 2 p.m.


 
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