NORMAL, Ill. – A grand slam in each game of Friday's doubleheader lifted Illinois State (10-23, 4-5 MVC) to a doubleheader sweep over UIC (4-29, 0-8 MVC) at Marian Kneer Stadium on a warm, but blustery day for softball in Normal.
ISU picked up an 11-3 win in five innings in the first contest of the day, highlighted by a grand slam off the bat of pinch hitter Lexie Griffin. The Birds followed that with a 5-2 win in game two, which featured a grand slam by Ella Boyer that put the Redbirds in the lead after trailing for a majority of the contest.
The 11 runs scored in game one is the most by the Redbirds this season, and the grand slams were the first for ISU since the 2023 season. The Redbirds have now won three games in a row and four out of their last five games overall, while improving to 3-2 at home.
BIRDS BITS (Game 1 vs. UIC)
Offensive Highlights:
Lexie Griffin: 1-for-2, 1 R, 1 HR, 4 RBI
Delainey Bryant: 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 HR, 1 RBI
Addison Masching: 1-for-4, 1 R, 2 RBI
Abby Knight: 1-for-2, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 RBI
Adisyn Hopkins: 1-for-2, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 RBI
Pitching Breakdown:
Hannah Meshnick (W, 5-9): 3.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
Hannah Meeks: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Redbirds wasted little time in taking a lead, as they scored four runs in the bottom of the first inning to take a 4-0 lead. Bryant led off the game with her team-leading fourth home run of the year and Abby Knight then added an RBI double to plate the second run of the inning. Knight later scored when Masching reached on a fielder's choice and Bella Wilkerson picked up an RBI with a bases loaded walk for the final run of the inning.
UIC would answer with two runs in the top of the second inning to cut the ISU lead in half at 4-2, but the Redbirds poured it on in the bottom of the second inning with seven runs on four hits to blow the game open. Masching, Hopkins and Bella Atkinson each recorded RBI singles which set the table for Griffin, who came up to bat as a pinch hitter with the bases loaded and one out and crushed a grand slam home run over the left field wall for her first homer as a Redbird to make the score 11-2. UIC got one of those runs back in the top of the third, but the Redbirds held on for the run-rule 5-inning win in the first contest of the day.
BIRDS BITS (Game 2 vs. UIC)
Offensive Highlights:
Ella Boyer: 3-for-3, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI
Lexie Griffin: 0-for-1, 2 BB
Bella Atkinson: 1-for-2, 1 R, 1 BB
Pitching Breakdown:
Paige McLeod: 4.1 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
Hannah Meeks (W, 5-4): 2.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
HOW IT HAPPENED
After two scoreless frames to start game two, UIC jumped out to a lead in a reversal from the previous contest with two runs in the top of the third inning to take a 2-0 lead over ISU. The Redbirds would get one of those runs back in the bottom half of the third inning, when Ella Boyer scored from third base on a throw down to second base trying to throw out Bryant trying to steal. UIC held onto a one-run lead until the bottom of the sixth inning, when the Redbirds put together a two-out rally. Griffin walked and then advanced to second on an infield single by Atkinson before Wilkerson loaded the bases when she was hit by a pitch. That's when Boyer came to the plate and launched a grand slam over the left field wall to put the Redbirds up 5-2. Meeks would then shut the door in the top of the seventh to secure the Redbird doubleheader sweep.
ON DECK
The Redbirds and Flames will play the final of their three-game MVC series on Saturday at Marian Kneer Stadium, with first pitch scheduled for 11 a.m. CT.
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