SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Illinois Springfield and Drury split on Sunday in a Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) doubleheader. The Prairie Stars won game one, 6-5, followed by the Panthers winning game two, 10-1.
GAME ONE
Illinois Springfield opened up the first game of the doubleheader with three runs in the first inning.
Drury was able to battle one run across the board in the fourth inning when
AJ Agers singled to score
Landry Cochran. The Prairie Stars answered with one in the bottom half to keep their advantage at three runs.
The Panthers tied it at four in the fifth inning.
Victoria Garland and
Isabel Ervin started the inning with singles.
Gabrielle Bax knocked them both in on a double. Bax would be out at home trying to extend a play.
Sophia Luetticke would add the Panthers' final run of the inning when she scored on a fielder's choice from
Avery Budde.
UIS put two on the sheet in the sixth inning. Down 6-4 entering the seventh inning,
Isabel Ervin led off with a single to be out on a fielder's choice with Bax reaching first. A
Landry Cochran double scored Bax but the Panthers could not push the tying run across and dropped, 6-5.
Landry Cochran and
Isabel Ervin both had two hits in the game.
AJ Agers threw a complete game in the loss. She gave up four earned runs while striking out five.
GAME TWO
The Panthers bounced back from a game-one loss with a run in the first inning.
Avery Budde had a solo homer to give Drury a quick 1-0 lead. The Prairie Stars tied it up in the bottom of the inning.
UIS took the lead in the third inning with a two-run single.
Drury exploded for eight runs in the fifth inning.
Gabrielle Bax doubled to open the inning.
Sophia Luetticke singled on a bunt to advance Bax. Luetticke would steal second, giving
Landry Cochran two RBIs following a single. Another double this one from
Avery Budde scored Cochran.
Kenna Trower would run for Budde. Trower would later score on a ground out from
Brooklyn LaChappa.
Taylor Hartsell ended up on third after the ground out. Garland added the Panthers' third double of the inning, scoring Hartsell. A pinch-hit double from
AJ Agers scored Garland. Bax would get her second base hit of the inning and knocked in
Isabel Ervin and
AJ Agers, giving the Panthers a 9-3 lead.
Illinois-Springfield cut the lead in the bottom of the fifth on a sac fly.
The nine runs were not enough for Drury. In the seventh inning,
Gabrielle Bax had a lead-off single. Two batters later,
Landry Cochran tripled to right field scoring Bax. Cochran would eventually score on a wild pitch closing the scoring at 11-4.
Victoria Garland went 3-3 with one RBI.
Avery Budde and
Gabrielle Bax each also had three hits.
Landry Cochran led the scoring with three RBIs.
Natalie Wilks got the start in the circle going 2.2 innings.
Avery Budde was the winning pitcher going 4.1 innings allowing one earned run and three hits.
Drury pitchers did not strike out a single batter in game two, this was the first a Drury team has won a game without striking out a batter since April 3, 2022. A game the Panthers won at Lindenwood, 10-1.
UP NEXT
Drury hosts Upper Iowa on March 29 for the Panthers' Senior Day. The doubleheader will start at noon.
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