April 21, 2010
Final Stats
NORMAL, Ill. -
Jessica Roche went 3-for-3 at the plate and led the Illinois State softball team over Indiana State, 3-2, Wednesday afternoon at the Marian Kneer Softball Stadium. With the win, the Redbirds move into a first-place tie with Southern Illinois in the Missouri Valley Conference standings.
Indiana State (16-26, 2-15 MVC) jumped ahead of Illinois State (25-14, 13-3 MVC) in the first inning when Stephanie Robinson scored on a Redbird throwing error. The Sycamores scored again in the third when Alyssa Doyle had a leadoff double followed by a single from Robinson that moved Doyle over to third. In the next play, Illinois State tried to throw Robinson out at second on a steal, but cut the throw off to get Doyle, who was breaking for home. The throw was not in time and the Sycamores increased its lead by two runs.
Illinois State answered back in its half of the third when Abby Olson started things off for the Redbirds with a walk followed by Elizabeth Kay, who reached on a Sycamore error. Olson and Kay advanced on the base paths when Meagan McCurdy threw a
wild pitch that got past Alyssa Marcum. Olson scored on a grounder by Niki Stansell.
In the fourth, Roche hit a leadoff double and was driven in on a single up the middle by Kara Nelson to tie the game.
Stansell singled to right center field and quickly stole second base in the fifth. Roche recorded her third hit of the game and drove in Stansell, who slid into home around Marcum's tag to give the Redbirds a one-run lead, which was enough to win the game.
Jordan Birch struck out four Sycamore batters and grabbed the win in Wednesday's contest. With the win, Birch improved her record to 13-6.
Illinois State will travel to Springfield, Mo., to take on MVC rival Missouri State in a three-game series, Saturday-Sunday. The first pitch Saturday is slated to begin at noon.
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