April 27, 2008
Final Stats
NORMAL, Ill. -
A walk-off solo home run by junior catcher Casey Gorrell in the bottom of the eighth inning with the score tied at 4-4 gave the Illinois State softball team (25-18 overall, 15-6 Missouri Valley Conference) a 5-4 victory over visiting Drake (22-23, 11-9 MVC) Sunday afternoon at the Redbird Softball Complex. ISU also received home runs in the game from sophomore third baseman Kara Nelson and junior pitcher Amber Smith, with Smith's home run being the 39th of her two-plus-year Redbird softball career, which ties her with former Southern Illinois player Katie Jordan (2002-05) for the Missouri Valley Conference career home run record.
The win was the Redbirds' fifth-straight and gave ISU the series sweep over Drake, its third Missouri Valley Conference series sweep this season.
"To sweep this series and to win (Sunday's) game was huge," said Illinois State head coach Melinda Fischer. "Both teams came ready to play (Sunday), and after Drake got a big hit in the first inning, we battled back and got some momentum going. We came from behind and then took a two-run lead into the seventh inning, only to allow Drake to come back and tie the game. I was really proud of how well we stayed in the game and battled throughout."
After Drake tied the game at 4-4 in the top of the seventh inning off of back-to-back home runs by Jaci Faidley and Erin Mollohan, Gorrell stepped to the plate with one out in the bottom of the eighth inning and hit a Jenna DeLong offering off of the left-field foul pole for the game-winning home run.
Smith's historic home run came in the bottom of the third inning, with the Redbirds trailing, 2-0. The solo shot was the Fairfield, Calif., native's team-high seventh of the year.
Despite the three home runs hit by Redbird batters in the game, Nelson was the lone ISU hitter to record multiple hits, as she went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Nelson's two hits in the game extended her season-long hitting streak to 11 games.
Junior transfer Rachel Smith (8-5), who came in to pitch in relief of Amber Smith after she gave up the game-tying home runs to Drake in the top of the seventh inning, earned her second-straight victory in the circle, as she pitched 1 2/3 innings and allowed just one Bulldog hit. Amber Smith earned a no-decision in the game after she pitched 6 1/3 innings and allowed four runs (all earned) on seven hits.
After falling behind early in both games of Saturday's doubleheader sweep by Illinois State, Drake came out firing in the top of the first inning. The Bulldogs' second batter in their lineup, Kristin Birocci, took an Amber Smith offering deep over the center field fence for a solo home run that gave Drake a 1-0 lead.
Drake got its offense going again in the top of the third inning, as the Bulldogs' leadoff batter, Marilyn Buss, lined a double off of the straight-away center field wall. A five-pitch walk to the next Drake batter set up a series of events that led to the Bulldogs' second run of the game. A hard-hit ground ball up the middle by Erin Mollohan was fielded by Redbird shortstop Kaprice Williams, who threw to Tiffany Prager at second base to try to get the trailing runner from first base. Williams' throw was late, however, and during the play, the lead Drake runner came around third base and slid past Gorrell's tag at home.
After Amber Smith was able to bail ISU out of a bases-loaded jam in the top of the fifth inning with an inning-ending strikeout, the Redbirds took advantage of the shift in momentum to score three more runs off of the Bulldogs. Nelson started the rally with a solo home run over the right-center field fence to tie the score at 2-2. The Redbirds then put two more runners on base, thanks to a walk by Amber Smith and a single by Buker, which gave way to Michelle Henderson's sacrifice fly ball that scored pinch runner Jessica Roche from third base and gave Illinois State the 3-2 lead.
The Redbirds then took a two-run advantage (4-2) when Buker was awarded home plate after DeLong threw an illegal pitch.
Illinois State will return to action Tuesday when it plays host to Northern Illinois at 6 p.m. at the Redbird Softball Complex. The game will mark the final home game of the 2008 season for ISU, as well as the final non-conference game for the Redbirds.
