Fittingly for a Senior Day, senior slugger Carson Forge hit a two-run homer and drove in four and senior second baseman Jordan Herman came up with a big seventh-inning defensive play to help Drury down Illinois Springfield 5-3 for a split of their Great Lakes Valley Conference softball doubleheader Friday at Thompson Field.

UIS used a two-hit shutout from Taylor Bowlby to drop the Panthers 3-0 in Friday's opener.

As a result, Drury is now 17-25 overall and 8-16 in the GLVC, while the Prairie Stars moved to 28-17 and 13-11.

After the Panthers managed just singles from Marissa Ross and Herman in the opener, the bats came alive in Game Two in support of starting pitcher Shelby Weissenbach (7-10). She allowed just two hits and three runs (two earned) while striking out five in her five innings of work before giving way to Jessica Kjeldgaard for the final two frames, as the sophomore lefty picked up her fourth save.

Drury pounded out nine hits in the nightcap, led by Forge's two-run blast in the first and a two-run single in the fourth. It was her 12th of the season (a DU single-season record) and 18th of her career, leaving the Crowder College transfer now just one shy of Sadie Ball's Drury-record 19 homers from 2008-10.

Kari Hillenburg had three hits in four trips to the plate and scored twice, and the squad's third senior - Carissa Price - even worked in an at-bat in the seventh, her first of the season after a spring that's seen her sidelined with an illness. She hit a hard liner caught in right, and was greeted enthusiastically outside the dugout by her teammates upon her return.

Forge, Herman - who made a diving stab and threw out a UIS runner from her knees at second to start the final inning - and Price were honored in the annual post-game Senior Day festivities.

Drury returns to action on Saturday, playing host to McKendree in games slated to start at noon at Thompson Field.