Feb. 19, 2011
Box Score
TEMPE, Ariz. -
The Illinois State softball team split a pair of games on the opening day of the Littlewood Classic in Tempe, Ariz., on Friday evening. The Redbirds (5-2) topped Idaho State (0-2), 10-1, in five innings before dropping a 13-4 decision to No. 9/12 Arizona State (7-1) in the nightcap.
The Redbirds offense picked up where it left off last weekend, as ISU tallied 10 hits and took advantage of three Idaho State errors to earn the 10-1 victory. Eight Illinois State players collected hits against the Bengals, with seniors Kara Nelson and Abby Olson leading the Redbird offense, as each recorded two hits and two RBI.
Junior Megan Warner improved to 3-0 on the season with a strong pitching performance, allowing just one run in the complete-game win. Warner struck out five Idaho State hitters, scattering five hits and yielding a pair of walks.
Illinois State got in the board in the bottom of the first, scoring a pair of runs after sophomore Elizabeth Kay belted an RBI double to left center and later came around to score on a wild pitch.
The Redbirds extended their lead to 7-0 after two innings by hanging five more runs on the Bengals in the second. Olson capped the inning with a two-run single to center that scored sophomore Lauren Kellar and Nelson.
Illinois State would add three more runs in its half of the third after Idaho State scored its lone run in the top of the inning to make the final margin, 10-1.
In the nightcap, the Redbirds would trade runs with Arizona State before the Sun Devils rallied for five runs in the fifth and five more in the sixth to earn the 13-4 victory.
ASU jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after Katelyn Body led off the bottom of the first with a solo shot to right center. Illinois State responded in the top of the third after Olson belted a home run to deep left center to swing the momentum back into the Redbird dugout. However, the lead would be short lived after Boyd blasted another solo homer to nearly the same spot and Krista Donnenwirth delivered an RBI double down the right field line to put Arizona State back on top, 3-2.
The Redbirds regained the lead in the top of the fourth after freshman Laura Canopy led off the inning with a single and redshirt freshman Nichelle Harrison followed with a single to up the middle. Sophomore Jhavon Hamilton then cleared the bases with a two-run triple and put ISU back on top, 5-4. Senior Chrissy Burton came out of the bullpen and sat down the Sun Devils in order to keep Illinois State on top through four.
After the fourth, it was all Arizona State, as the Sun Devils took advantage of a Redbird miscue to score five runs in the fifth and then ended the game with five more runs in the sixth, with four of them coming on a walk-off grand slam by Annie Lockwood to end the contest.
"[Arizona State] has always had a reputation, and right so, for being a very good offensive team," head coach Melinda Fischer said. "I thought our pitchers did a good job of containing them early, but Megan just didn't have her stuff tonight after she came in. We played very well against them for four innings, but that doesn't matter, you have to be able to stay with them and be able to shut them down, and we just weren't able to do that from a pitching standpoint at all."
Warner was saddled with the loss in the circle after relieving Burton in the fifth and dropped to 3-1 on the season. Reigning USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Week Dallas Escobedo earned the win for the Sun Devils and kept her season perfect, improving to 5-0.
"Tonight we will talk about our games, see what we did well, see what we need to improve on and bring that with us tomorrow," Fischer said. "Tomorrow is a new day, a new team and we have to be ready to play"
Due to the expectation of rain in Tempe, Ariz., Illinois State's game with Seattle has been moved up to 12:15 p.m. CST and the Redbirds will matchup with Iowa shortly after the conclusion of their first game with the Redhawks.
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