Feb. 10, 2012
Box Score
TAMPA, Fla. -
The Illinois State softball team opened the 2012 season with a pair of wins over Maine and Long Island Friday morning on the opening day of the USF Tournament in Tampa, Fla. The Redbirds topped the Black Bears, 5-4, in eight innings, before downing the Blackbirds, 9-0, in five frames.
Junior Lauren Kellar led the ISU offense by going 3-for-6 at the plate with a home run and four runs scored. Fellow junior Jhavon Hamilton added a pair of hits, including a homer and three RBI. In the circle, senior Jordan Birch tossed 6.0 scoreless innings and struck out 10 to earn victories in both contests.
In the opener, Kellar gave Illinois State the early lead by belting a solo home run in the first at bat of the 2012 season. The Redbirds looked to extend their lead in the bottom half of the third, as sophomore Kolby Hoffman and Kellar led off the frame with back-to-back hits and stood at second and third with no outs. However, Maine starter Ashley Kelly pitched out of the jam to keep the margin at 1-0.
The Black Bears tied the game in the fourth on a solo blast by Jean Stevens and took their first lead of the game in the fifth at 2-1, after an RBI single by Jessica Burk.
The Redbirds countered in the bottom half of the fifth to regain the lead on a two-run single by Hamilton that scored Kellar and redshirt sophomore Sara Bradley. Maine once again responded, plating two more runs in the sixth. Stevens led off the inning with her second home run of the game and EmJ Fogel delivered an RBI single later in the inning.
With the Black Bears leading 4-3, Kelley retired the first two ISU hitters, before Hamilton delivered a two-out, solo shot over the wall in right center to force extra innings.
With the international tiebreaker rule in effect, Birch took over in the circle in relief of Illinois State starter Megan Warner to start the eight. Birch notched a pair of strikeouts and kept Maine scoreless in the top half of the inning, allowing ISU to earn the victory on redshirt sophomore Nichelle Harrison's game-winning single in the bottom of the stanza. With junior Elizabeth Kay starting the bottom of the eight on second due to the tiebreak rule, senior Liz Andrews led off the frame with a single, before Harrison gave ISU the victory with a single through the right side that scored Kay.
After a dramatic, eight-inning win in their opener, the Redbirds needed just five innings to notch their second win of the year. ISU took advantage of an error and two wild pitches to take a 5-0 lead after the first inning.
Sophomore Laura Canopy drove in a run with a single to left center and Bradley followed with a two-run double to center to highlight the scoring.
Illinois State chased Blackbird starter Chelsie Vondrak after just 1.1 innings and added two more runs in the bottom of the second to open up a 7-0 advantage. Kellar singled and Hamilton reached on a fielder's choice to open the bottom of the second and both later scored on wild pitches by LIU reliever Sarah Reynolds.
Back-to-back home runs by Kay and Andrews to lead off the bottom of the fourth pushed ISU's lead to 9-0 and Birch shut down the Blackbird offense to record her second win of the day. The senior pitcher allowed just one hit, struck out eight and issued just one walk in an outstanding effort inside the circle.
Illinois State will continue the USF Tournament with a pair of games Saturday against tournament host South Florida and No. 2/4 Florida. The Redbirds are slated to take on the Bulls at 4 p.m. CST and will play the Gators at 7 p.m. CST.
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