GREENVILLE, Ill. – The Spalding University softball team took both games of a doubleheader against Iowa Wesleyan, 5-2 and 8-6 Saturday afternoon in Greenville, Illinois to improve to 8-14 overall and 6-4 in conference play.
The Golden Eagles used a three run seventh inning to take game one of the doubleheader, 5-2.
Kelci Flener improved to 5-6 on the season, holding the Tigers to two runs on four hits, while striking out four batters and walking five.
Amanda Gilliland led SU at the plate going 3-for-4, while
Kaytlyn Mitchell drove in a team-high two RBIs on a 2-for-4 effort.
Spalding struck first, plating a run in the second inning to take a 1-0 lead.
Kelci Flener reached on a fielder's choice and
Brooke Lamon drover her in with an RBI double.
Iowa Wesleyan responded with two runs in the bottom of the third to take a 2-1 lead. Caitlin O'Neill singled scoring Stephanie Tillman, and Kassie Vasquez raced home following a wild pitch to score the final run of the inning.
The Golden Eagles plated a run in the sixth to tie the game at two runs apiece. With one out,
Amanda Gilliland reached on a double and
Miranda Ladanyi came on to run for the catcher. Ladanyi moved to third on a Flener sacrifice bunt, and scored the tying run on a wild pitch.
In the seventh inning, the Eagles juiced the bases to start the inning.
Alyssa McAfee brought in the game-winning run with an RBI single scoring
Brooke Conder. SU added a pair of support runs when
Kaytlyn Mitchell ripped a two-RBI double scoring
Shelby Kilgore and McAfee to make the final score 5-2.
In game two, the Golden Eagles scored three runs in the top of the second and would lead the entire game on their way to an 8-6 victory.
Sophomore Courtney Miller (1-2) earned the win. Miller limited the Tigers to four runs, two earned on nine hits.
Four Golden Eagles (Conder, Ladanyi, Lamon and Rucker) led the team with two hits apiece. Senior
Brooke Conder drove in a game-high three RBIs, while
Kaylin Rucker also drove in a pair of runs.
Brooke Lamon doubled scoring Gilliland from third for SU's first run of the game. Conder followed with a two-RBI double plating Ladanyi and Lamon to give Spalding a 3-0 lead.
Iowa Wesleyan brought a pair of runs across the plate in the third inning to cut the Golden Eagle lead to one run. However, Spalding matched it in the top of the fourth inning to push their lead back to three runs. Ladanyi scored on a wild pitch and
Kaylin Rucker doubled scoring Conder from third base.
The Tigers scored two runs in the fifth inning to cut the deficit to one run, but Spalding responded with three runs in the top of the sixth inning to push their lead to four runs. Conder singled to scoring Ladanyi, and Rucker drove in Lamon with a sacrifice fly to left field. McAfee singled bringing Conder across the dish for SU's final run of the game.
Iowa Wesleyan scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, but the SU defense held as the Golden Eagles won 8-6.
The Golden Eagles will be back in action Sunday hosting a non-conference doubleheader against Rose-Hulman at 2:00 and 4:00 p.m. EST.
