EAST PEORIA, Ill. – Top-seeded Drury defeated fifth-seeded Illinois Springfield on Thursday afternoon, 7-1, to advance to the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Softball Tournament Semifinals. The Panthers improved to 33-19 and the Prairie Stars fell to 30-19.
 
Landry Cochran got the Drury on the board in the first inning on a solo homer, her third of the season. The Panthers added one more in the inning. A Brooklyn LaChappa single scored Taylor Hartsell from third.
 
Illinois Springfield was unable to manufacture any runs before Drury extended their two-run lead. Victoria Garland led the fourth inning off with a single before being run by Kenna Trower. Reece Anderson then singled. A passed ball advanced both Trower and Anderson 60 feet. A fielder's choice sac bunt from Sophia Luetticke scored Trower. Two batters later, after Luetticke stole second, Taylor Hartsell hit a triple over the centerfielder's head to score Anderson and Luetticke. A ground out ended the Panthers' three-run inning.
 
Drury added two more runs to the board in the fifth inning off a Gabrielle Bax single that scored Victoria Garland and Brooklyn LaChappa.
 
The Prairie Stars scored their lone run of the game off two walks and a throwing error in the sixth. UIS did not have any more opportunities in the game, giving Drury the 7-1 win.
 
As a team, Drury totaled 12 hits. There were four Panthers that had two hits a piece, Landry Cochran, Taylor Hartsell, Brooklyn LaChappa, and Victoria Garland. Jordyn Foley got her second consecutive start. Foley threw five innings and allowed four hits, one unearned run, and struck two out. AJ Agers threw two no-hit innings to close the game.
 
Drury will play sixth-seeded Indianapolis in the tournament semifinals. The winner of the game advances to the GLVC Softball Championship on Saturday. The loser will play the winner of Missouri S&T and Illinois Springfield at 1:30 pm on Friday.
 
#WonDrury