Underdogs Move on in Upset-Riddled Day Two; No. 1 UIC Eliminated

Horizon League Softball Tournament Scores
No. 5 Wright State 1, No. 1 UIC 0
No. 6 Youngstown State 2, No. 2 Loyola 0
Elimination Games
No. 3 Valparaiso 3, No. 1 UIC 1
No. 4 Cleveland State 3, No. 2 Loyola 1 (Suspended in the top of the 5th)

CHICAGO -- The upsets continued on a day that saw No. 1 UIC become the first team eliminated from the Horizon League softball tournament before the Cleveland State-Loyola elimination game was suspended in the top of the fifth inning and scheduled to resume on Friday morning at 11 a.m. ET.

With the suspention, all of Friday's regularly scheduled contests will have their start times moved back one hour.

No. 5 Wright State 1, No. 1 UIC 0
The fifth-ranked Raiders pulled off a second-straight upset on Thursday afternoon at Flames Field to force No. 1 UIC into the losers bracket.

A day after hanging on to beat No. 4 Cleveland State, Wright State played the Flames to a scoreless tie through six innings before scratching out the game's lone run in the top of the seventh. Kacie Rapshus led off the frame with a single and moved around on a sacrifice bunt  and Reagan Stofcheck's base hit. With runners on the corners, Lindsay Barrett laid down a picture perfect suicide squeeze bunt and Rapshus slid into home well ahead of the tag.

UIC mounted a valiant comeback attempt in the bottom of the frame as Courtney Heeley drew a two-out walk and Natalie Hernandez poked a single into left field, but Wright State starter Krystian DeWitt induced a groundout to shortstop to end the game and preserve the upset win.

DeWitt tossed seven innings of shutout ball to earn her second win of the tournament, allowing five hits and four walks while recording three strikeouts. In the loss, UIC hurler Devin Miller tossed seven innings and allowed one earned run, four hits and two walks with five strikeouts.

With the win, No. 5 Wright State moves on the play No. 6 Youngstown State in tomorrow's 3:30 p.m. ET game.

No. 6 Youngstown State 2, No. 2 Loyola 0
The sixth-ranked Penguins also pulled off their second upset in two days as Youngstown State picked up a 2-0 win to send No. 2 Loyola to the losers bracket.

YSU had beaten No. 3 Valparaiso on Wednesday to earn the right to play the Ramblers, who tied with UIC for the regular season crown. The Penguins opened the scoring in the third inning on back-to-back two-out doubles by Samantha Snodgrass and Courtney Ewing.

Youngstown State added an insurance run in the top of the sixth inning after Miranda Castiglione led off the frame with a single and eventually scored on an RBI groundout by Kelly Stowe.

Casey Crozier picked up the complete game shutout win for YSU, allowing five hits and two walks while recording six strikeouts. Loyola starter Brittany Gardner took the loss on seven innings, five hits, two earned runs, three walks and nine strikeouts.

Tomorrow's winners bracket game will feature No. 6 Youngstown State against No. 5 Wright State at 3:30 p.m. ET.

No. 3 Valparaiso 3, No. 1 UIC 1
A stellar pitching performance by freshman Taylor Weissenhofer led the No. 3 Crusaders to upset top-ranked UIC at Flames Field.

A little over 24 hours after giving up seven runs in 1.2 innings pitched against Youngstown State, Weissenhofer allowed just three hits and one earned run against the Flames, issuing no walks while recording six strikeouts. The one blemish against the freshman came in the bottom of the seventh inning when Jenna Marsalli led the frame off with a home run to the left-center-field gap, cutting the Valpo lead to 3-1. But Weissenhofer recovered to induce two flyouts and a groundout to end the game and preserve the win.

Janelle Bouchard put the Crusaders ahead in the top of the fourth inning. With two on and two out, Bouchard dropped a triple down the right-field line, scoring Kaitlyn Ranieri and Joylyn Ichiyama.

Ichiyama allowed Valpo to scratch out an insurance run in the top of the sixth with some heads-up baserunning. When Jessie Marinec hit a groundball to the UIC second baseman, Ichiyama stopped in her tracks to avoid being tagged out. After the out was recorded at first, Ichiyama got into a rundown between second and first, allowing Ranieri to score all the way from second. Ichiyama was safe at first on the play, but was stranded.

In her second-straight loss of the tournament, Horizon League Pitcher of the Year Devin Miller gave up only three hits and two walks but allowed three runs (two earned) while striking out six in a complete-game effort.

Valparaiso will await an opponent from the continuation of the CSU-Loyola contest and will play at 2 p.m. ET.

No. 4 Cleveland State 3, No. 2 Loyola 1
No. 4 Cleveland State appeared en route to continuing the upset streak as the Vikings led No. 2 Loyola 3-1 in the top of the fifth inning before Mother Nature took over and the contest was suspended.

The game entered a rain delay with one out in the top of the fifth inning. Calia Ferro was at bat with a 0-1 count and Cleveland State had runners on first and second. The delay lasted over 45 minutes before the decision to suspend play was made. The game will resume on Friday morning at 12 noon ET and the regularly scheduled games will have their start times moved back one hour.

Cleveland State took an early lead when Horizon League Newcomer of the Year Erica McNew singled to center field with two on and no outs. The Ramblers committed two throwing errors on the play, allowing both Dara Toman and Katelind Phillips to score. McNew then scored on a wild pitch to make it 3-0.

Loyola got one run back in the bottom of the second inning when Olivia Bell reached on an error, allowing Brie Pasquale to score.