No. 6 UIC Captures Two Wins to Advance in the #HLSB Championship

2014 Softball Championship Bracket

Day 2 Results:
Game 5 -- No. 2 Wright State 6, No. 5 Cleveland State 5
Game 6 -- No. 6 UIC 3, No. 4 Youngstown State 2
Game 7 -- No. 6 UIC 3, No. 2 Wright State 0

Day 3 Schedule:
11:00 a.m. -- Game 8 -- No. 3 Valparaiso vs. No. 1 Green Bay
1:30 p.m. -- Game 9 -- No. 6 UIC vs. loser game 8

No. 2 Wright State 6, No. 5 Cleveland State 5
In the first elimination game of the 2014 Horizon League Softball Championship Wright State went down four runs before mounting a comeback in the third and fourth innings to capture the 6-5 victory over Cleveland State. The Raiders advance to the next round of the Championship while the Vikings end their season with a 24-20 overall record.

Wright State got on the board early in the bottom of the first inning when Jess Gorman led-off with a single up the middle. She advanced the second on a bunt from Reagan Stofcheck and moved to third on a wild pitch. With one out, Taylor Knore hit a high fly ball to right center for a RBI sacrifice fly that scored Gorman from third.

Down 1-0, Cleveland State responded quickly manufacturing five runs in the top of the second inning. The frame began with Katelind Phillips getting a walk and ended with the Vikings collecting five hits. The bats came alive as Susan Knight, Janessa Rivera-Keahi, Nena Doran, Hannah Yoe and Cynthia Woodard all put the ball in play for run-scoring singles. Wright State pitcher Montana Wear was able to get out of the inning but was relieved by Krystian Dewitt in the third.

The Raiders brought the game within three after a walk to Kacie Rapshus who advanced to third via a fielder’s choice play and single from Kortney Tackett. Rapshus eventually scored on a sacrifice fly from Angie Clark to keep Wright State in the ballgame. Cleveland State starting pitcher Alex Radgen was relieved by Sara Shield after giving up six hits and four earned-runs to the Raiders.

There was more scoring to come from the Raiders as Libby Pfeffer led-off the bottom of the third with a single to right center to keep the bats rolling against Shields in the circle. With a base runner on, Knore knocked her first home run of the season over the center field fence to bring Wright State within one run of the Vikings.

As the Raiders stayed hot at the plate, the Vikings cooled off, failing to put runs across the plate against DeWitt in response to the Wright State serge. Wright State captured its eventual game-winning runs in the bottom of the fourth on RBI’s from Stofcheck’s double and Pfeffer’s single to center field.

DeWitt garnered the victory for Wright State after pitching 5.0 innings, allowing only four hits while striking out four. In relief, Shields couldn’t finish-off the Raiders as she gave up two earned-runs on four hits and just one strikeout.

Yoe and Woodward led the Cleveland State offense going 3-for-4 respectively while collecting three of the five RBI’s for the squad.

Gorman went a perfect 4-for-4 for Wright State while Pfeffer and Tackett each went 2-for-3. Knore’s 1-for-3 performance brought in three RBI while also scoring a run.

No. 6 UIC 3, No. 4 Youngstown State 2
It took eight innings for the game to be decided, but the UIC Flames pulled-out the victory over Youngstown State 3-2 to advance to face No. 2 Wright State. Youngstown State ended its season with a 30-24 overall record.

In the top of the eighth inning, Courtney Heeley started the rally for the Flames with a single up the middle followed by a single to left center from Natalie Hernandez. Paige Peterson laid down a sacrifice bunt to move both runners into scoring position. After a Youngstown State out, Laura Swan hit a two-run single to right field to bring in the eventual winning runs.

Youngstown State produced two hits in the bottom of the eighth inning while scoring one run but could not get another to cross the plate to continue the ballgame. The Penguins left two runners on base when the game ended in a foul out to left field.

It was a pitching-dual to start the game as Youngstown State’s Casey Crozier and UIC’s Alice Fitzpatrick were able to get out of mid-inning jams to keep the game scoreless until the bottom of the fourth.

To score the first run of the contest, Samantha Snodgrass launched a home run into the scoreboard in left field to put the Vikings on top 1-0.

Each team, however, struggled throughout the game to push runs across the plate as UIC had 14 runners left on base while Youngstown State left on 11.

UIC tied the game at one in the top of the sixth on a home run from Hernandez to center field. Hernandez had a standout game going a perfect 5-for-5 at the plate, scoring two runs and tallying a RBI for the Flames. First baseman Swan went 2-for-3 with two RBI and two walks to help propel UIC to a spot in the next round.

The Penguins were led by Haley Knight at the plate who went 3-for-4, Snodgrass going 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored and Katie Smallcomb’s 2-for-3 outing.

Fitzpatrick picked up the win for the Flames with seven innings pitched, striking out four and allowing nine hits. Crozier was in the circle for Youngstown State for six innings, collecting two strikeouts and allowing eight hits. Kayla Haslett relieved Crozier for two innings of work giving up three hits while facing 10 UIC batters.

No. 6 UIC 3, No. 2 Wright State 0
On the first pitch of the ballgame, Natalie Hernandez led-off with a crushed ball over the fence in left center to give UIC a 1-0 lead that would prove to be enough to defeat the Raiders. In the top of the seventh inning, the Flames added two more insurance runs to post a final score of 3-0. Wright State ended the season with a 19-32 record while being the regular season runner-up in the conference.

Hernandez went 2-for-3 for the contest with a run scored to add to her home run efforts. Teammate Jenna Marsalli went 1-for-2 and Kelly Kennedy added a RBI double to insure the victory.

Wright State was held to just four hits off of UIC’s Bridget Boyle, while she fanned five Raiders and only gave up one walk in her seven innings of work. Jess Gorman, Libby Pfeffer, Becka Peterson, Hanna Floyd and Kristi Boreing all recorded hits but could not string them together to put any runs across the board for Wright State.

Krystian DeWitt held UIC batters to six hits while striking out six but the Flames were able to get hits in key scoring situations. In seven innings of work, DeWitt faced 27 batters and walked just two.

UIC advances to face the loser of No. 1 Green Bay versus No. 3 Valparaiso in a game beginning at 11:00 a.m. The Flames will then follow to play at 1:30 p.m. in the semifinals of the Championship. All games will be streamed live on the Horizon League Network.