Sangamon Sun

The Illinois College softball team competed in two games on Tuesday in Clermont, Florida, achieving a split outcome. They secured a victory against Marietta with a score of 10-1 but later faced defeat against Benedictine, ending the game at 7-3.

This result leaves the Lady Blues with a season record of 3-6.

In the first game, Illinois College established an early lead by scoring two runs in the opening inning. Kayla Serpa contributed with an RBI single and Cheyenne Anderson added another run with a fielder's choice. Calynn Gicante furthered the lead with a ground out RBI in the third inning, followed by Taylor Henry’s RBI single. Gicante then increased their advantage to 5-0 in the fourth inning with another RBI single.

Marietta scored once in their half of the fourth inning, but Illinois College extended their lead significantly by adding five runs in the sixth inning. Henry walked with bases loaded to bring in one run; Maddie Murphy singled for another; and Jaycie Edwards hit a bases-loaded double driving in three more runs.

Serpa led the offense with three hits and three runs scored. Julia Drake pitched effectively, allowing five hits and striking out eight to secure the win.

In their second game against Benedictine, Illinois College fell behind quickly as Benedictine took a 3-0 lead after just one and a half innings. The Lady Blues narrowed this gap to 3-2 through consecutive triples by Erin Hand (who drove in Claudia Adam) and Michelle Maag.

Benedictine responded with two additional runs in the third inning, bringing their lead to 5-2. Although Emma Hardiek managed an RBI ground out for Illinois College during their half of that inning, no further scoring was achieved by them. Benedictine added two more insurance runs during the sixth inning, concluding the match at 7-3.

For Illinois College, Serpa, Anderson, and Hand each contributed two hits during this second game. Hailey Crouch took responsibility for pitching during three innings where she allowed five runs on nine hits while Henry finished off four innings giving up two runs on three hits along with recording two strikeouts.

The Lady Blues will resume play on Thursday when they travel back to Kissimmee for matches against Marian at 1:45 p.m., followed by Aurora at 4:15 p.m.