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Illinois State University Athletics

Dayna Kennedy
5
Illinois State ILS 0-4
6
Winner Kansas City KCR22 1-3
Illinois State ILS
0-4
5
Final
6
Kansas City KCR22
1-3
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Illinois State ILS 0 1 0 0 0 3 1 5 12 1
Kansas City KCR22 0 0 0 0 0 4 2 6 9 1

W: C. Stickel (0-0) L: Ross, Hannah (0-3)

Game Recap: Softball | | Claire Trattner

Illinois State Drops Late-Inning Thriller to Kansas City

TAMPA, Fla. – Illinois State (0-4) led 4-0 in the top of the sixth inning before Kansas City (1-2) came back to tie and eventually win the game in walk-off fashion. After the Roos tied the game, Dayna Kennedy crushed the Redbirds' first home run of the season over the left field wall, only to have Kansas City answer by scoring two runs in the bottom of the seventh and capture the win. 

The Redbirds had a season high of 12 hits tallying four doubles, one triple and one home run while scoring a total of five runs, which is also a season high through four games. Pitcher Amanda Fox went five innings dealing six strikeouts which is a single-game career high in both categories. 

BIRD BITS

Offensive highlights:

The bats came alive for Illinois State as five players registered at least two hits and seven total players had a hit. 

Pitching Breakdown:

BY THE NUMBER / KEY INNINGS

  • The Redbirds started off hot as Addison Masching, the second batter up, doubled to deep center field, recording her first collegiate hit.
  • Illinois State scratched its first run across in the second inning on a Reili Gardner single to left field. Crossing the plate was Kaili Chval who had singled down the left field line earlier in the inning. Bella Wilkerson also collected a hit in her first at-bat during the second inning. 
  • Masching smashed another double to left field in the top of the third inning, but the Redbirds were unable to bring her home. Same situation in the top of the fourth as Delainey Bryant came in to pinch hit and tripled off the wall in center field, but no runs were scored.
  • Emme Olson led off the top of the fifth inning with a single, but Illinois State was unable to take advantage. 
  • With two outs in the top of the sixth, the Redbirds rallied starting with a Chval single through the left side. Bryant then doubled to center field to put two runners on with Gardner stepping up to the plate. Gardner shot a double into center field, scoring Chval and Bryant, and advancing to third on an error. Olson then had her second hit of the night and an RBI as Gardner scored. 
  • The Roos retaliated in the bottom half the inning, scoring four runs to tie the Redbirds and forcing a pitching change with Hannah Ross entering the game for Illinois State. 
  • After getting out of the bottom of the sixth still tied, Illinois State came up to bat in the top of the seventh. With two outs in the inning, Kennedy hit her monster home run to bring the Redbirds up by one heading into the bottom half of the inning. 
  • Unfortunately for Illinois State, Kansas City was able put some runners on base and plated a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh to win it.

ON DECK

Illinois State will travel to the Littlewood Classic in Tempe, Ariz., hosted by No. 21 Arizona State, on Feb. 18-20. The Redbirds will start by facing off against California on Feb. 18 at 10 a.m. CT.

For updates on Illinois State Softball, follow the Redbirds on Twitter (@RedbirdsSB) and Instagram (@redbirdsoftball).

GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App: Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.

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