(LEBANON, Ill., MARCH 28)- The McKendree College softball team picked up their 20th win after taking both games of a doubleheader Wednesday against visiting Olivet Nazarene University. The Bearcats used a solo homerun and a three-run homer to win game one 4-0 and the Bearcats used a steady bat and solid defense to win game two, 8-1.
McKendree, now 20-7 overall, hosts Spalding University Friday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. at Bearcat Field, before hosting the McKendree Classic Saturday and Sunday in Trenton, Ill.
Despite only having six hits in game one, the Bearcats made them count with two homeruns. Shortstop
Courtney Aldridge (Dupo, Ill./Dupo) (Dupo, Ill./Dupo) led off the second inning with a solo shot, her second of the season, over the left field fence to give the Bearcats a 1-0 lead. McKendree wouldn’t score again until the fifth inning, when designated hitter
Rachael Ostertag (O' Fallon, Mo./Francis Howell)’s (O’Fallon, Mo./Francis Howell) three run homer scored
Kayla White (Buncombe, Ill./Vienna HS) (Buncombe, Ill./Vienna) and
Molly Reed (Carrollton, Ill./Carrollton) (Carrollton, Ill/Carrollton), giving the Bearcats a 4-0 lead, where it would remain.
Ostertag and
Sloane Hertlein (Harrisburg, Ill./Harrisburg) (Harrisburg, Ill./Harrisburg) led the Bearcats in game one with both going 2-3 at the plate. Pitcher
Amy Quirin (Belleville, Ill./Belleville West HS) (Belleville, Ill./Belleville West) picked up the win after throwing seven innings and giving up three hits and eight strikeouts, improving her record to 3-2 on the season.
In game two, the Bearcats struck first in the second inning, when catcher
Angie Maue (Trenton, Ill./Wesclin HS) (Trenton, Ill./Wesclin) scored on a bases loaded walk, followed by a fielders choice by leftfielder
Amber Nikolauzyk (Mascoutah, Ill./Mascoutah HS) (Mascoutah, Ill./Mascoutah) that scored designated hitter
Becky Sommer (Freeburg, Ill./Freeburg) (Freeburg, Ill./Freeburg). McKendree struck again in the third inning, when Sommer’s three-run homer gave the Bearcats a 5-0 lead.
Following an Olivet Nazarene run in the top of the fourth, McKendree matched them in the bottom of the inning on a single by Aldridge, scoring Reed and the Bearcats scored two more times in the bottom of the sixth on another single by Aldridge and a sacrifice fly by Sommer, making the score, 8-1 Bearcats.
Aldridge led the Bearcats in game two, going 3-4 with one run and two RBI’s, while
Becky Sommer (Freeburg, Ill./Freeburg) went 2-3 with two runs and four RBI’s. Pitcher
Lindsey Christensen (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove South) (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove South) earned her fifth win after throwing seven innings, giving up six hits and striking out four.
