NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State softball team (18-26, 9-8 MVC) bounced back from an 8-0 run-rule loss in six innings to Drake (34-9, 17-0 MVC) in the opening game of Saturday's doubleheader, but ultimately fell, 8-3, in the second game of the twin bill to the league-leading Bulldogs.
Game One: ISU 0, DU 8 (6 inn.)
Drake drew out a one-out walk, but starting pitcher Morgan Day worked around it and registered her first strikeout of the game to close the top of the inning. After being sent down in order in the bottom of the opening frame, the Redbirds returned the favor in the top of the second.
Shannon Felde singled up the middle for Illinois State's lone hit of the game to lead off the home half of the second and stole second base but was left stranded in scoring position. A sac fly to left field with a pair of runners in scoring position brought the first Bulldog runner home. A ground out to shortstop Riley Strandgard kept Drake from extending its lead in the third. Both sides sat each other down in the fourth inning, before the Bulldogs scratched three runs across in the fifth and four in the sixth to hold the 8-0 lead going into the bottom of the sixth inning.
With the bottom of the batting order due up, Drake kept Illinois State off base in the home half of the sixth to take the 8-0 win over the Redbirds in the opening game of the doubleheader.
Game Two: ISU 3, DU 8
Senior Sarah Finck struck out her first Bulldog to open game two of the twin bill. Drake reached on an error and drew a walk, but a ground out to Finck in the circle ended the top of the first. In the home half of the inning, Riley Hale drew a lead-off walk to make it on base for the Redbirds, but a fielder's choice kept Illinois State from moving into scoring position.
In the second inning, Illinois State sent the Bulldogs down in order before Caitlyn Daly nearly hit one over the centerfield wall, but Drake made a play at the warning track to keep the Redbirds from jumping on the board. The Bulldogs used a four-run third inning to take a 4-0 lead over Illinois State. A driving catch in right center field by Alyssa Wiebel closed the third inning to leave a pair of Bulldog runners on base.
Hale drew her second walk of the game in the bottom of the frame with two outs to put a base runner on for the Redbirds. In the next at-bat, Shannon Felde tripled to right field to send Hale across home plate and put Illinois State on the board. The triple by Felde is the first of the season for the junior, second of her career and third for the Redbirds.
A one-out solo home run over the centerfield wall pushed Drake back out to a four-run advantage. The Bulldogs scored one in the top of the fifth before Brittni LaFountaine registered the Redbirds second hit of the game with an infield single in the bottom, but pinch runner Stephanie Thulen was left stranded. Drake pushed two runs across in the top of the sixth to take an 8-1 lead, but a two-run home run over the left field wall by Wiebel helped the Redbirds chip away at the Bulldogs' lead. Both sides went down in order in the seventh to help Drake remain undefeated in conference play.
Illinois State will wrap up the three-game series against the Bulldogs on Sunday with an 11 a.m. first pitch scheduled from Marian Kneer Stadium.
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