Junior Audra Rast threw a personal best on the mound hurling 11 strikeouts and freshman Lauren Bierwirth ripped her first homerun and triple of the year helping Illinois State to deal Creighton its eighth straight loss, 4-2, at the Redbird Softball Complex on Sunday.
I thought Audra pitched a great game considering the conditions she was in, Redbird coach
Melinda Fischer said of the brisk winds and chilly temperatures during the game. I was very proud of how she played and how we played as a team this weekend.
Rast improved her record to 6-2 with her win over the Jays. Kristan Melton took the loss for Creighton dropping her record to 2-4 on the year.
Creighton earned its only two runs of the game in the first inning off a double by Abbie Johnson and two singles by Katie Ayers and Cara Van Winkle.
The first run for the Jays came when Johnson drove a ball deep off the right field fence scoring Ayers from first base. A hard hit by DeAnn Caster resulted in an error by Redbird shortstop Mandi Garner giving Creighton their second run of the game scoring Johnson.
The Redbirds bounced back in the bottom of the second after Garner drilled a ball to left field scoring Abbie Scott from third base leaving a score of 2-1 going into the third.
Jamie Bagnall helped the Birds to rally again in the bottom of the third picking up an RBI off of a hot hit grounder to third base safely landing her on first. Scott scored off the hit tying the game at 2-2.
With bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth, Cutie Taylor tagged up and scored off of a sacrifice fly by Katie Shifflet giving the Redbirds a 3-2 lead. Illinois States final run came when freshman Lauren Bierwirth smashed a shot deep over the left field fence.
In the three game series, the Redbirds had great defensive and offensive efforts from Kate Stake who had five assists and made nine putouts at second base while hitting a .444 at the plate.
With the Redbirds third win to start off the conference season, Fischer expressed her excitement for the success her team had over the weekend.
Creighton came out strong and they were ready to play, said Fischer. We had some great plays that were made to help us stay in it. Kate (Stake) had a great weekend, Mandi had great consistency at short(stop), and Lauren put some bunts down for us that were crucial yesterday along with her nice hitting today.
Its a great way to start the conference season, added Fischer.
The Redbirds (8-9, 3-0) are scheduled to play the Bradley Braves next weekend in Peoria at Bradley Park.
