VALPARAISO, Ind. – The Illinois State softball team closed the 2019 regular season on a high note, sweeping Valparaiso by final scores of 6-4 and 1-0 in the twin bill on Saturday.
BIRD BITS AT VALPARAISO (W, 6-4) – GAME 1
Top Performers:
Pitching Breakdown:
- Shannon Felde: 7.0 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K (season high, matches career high)
BY THE NUMBERS / KEY INNINGS AT VALPARAISO (W, 6-4) – GAME 1
- A two-RBI single up the middle by Allison Spence helped ISU to an early lead in the opening frame.
- Valpo responded in the bottom of the second, leveling the score at two-all with a pair of RBI singles.
- With bases loaded, Shannon Felde drew her second walk of the game to break the scoring open, as Riley Hale followed with a two-RBI single to push the Redbirds out to a 5-2 advantage. Ellie Weltha drew ISU's second bases-loaded walk of the frame to extend the Redbirds' lead to four runs, before the Crusaders could escape the inning.
- The Crusaders added a pair of unearned runs on the board in the bottom of the fifth to cut their deficit in half.
- Felde and the Redbird defense sat the Crusaders down in order in the sixth and seventh innings, as the senior right-handed pitcher finished with a season-high five strikeouts to match her career best.
BIRD BITS AT VALPARAISO (W, 1-0) – GAME 2
Top Performers:
Pitching Breakdown:
- Morgan Day: 7.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 11 K (career high)
BY THE NUMBERS / KEY INNINGS AT VALPARAISO (W, 1-0) – GAME 2
- Riley Hale knocked a single up the middle in the opening frame to extend her team-best reached base streak to 14 games.
- A two-out single to right center field by Andrea Coursey scored pinch runner Michele Calabrese from second base, to help ISU take a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning.
- After giving up back-to-back singles, Morgan Day and the Redbird defense settled in as the pair of Crusader runners were left stranded with Day's sixth strikeout of the game to close the fourth.
- Both teams closed their side of the fifth inning with double plays, as ISU record its 19th of the season.
- Day fanned the first batter she faced in the seventh inning to match a career-high of nine strikeouts, before fighting off the Crusaders' comeback to help ISU secure the 1-0 win.
ON DECK
Illinois State will make the short trip to Peoria, Illinois, this week for the 2019 Missouri Valley Conference Championship. The single-elimination tournament is set to begin on May 8 with the championship game slated for 1 p.m. on May 11.
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