(SPRINGFIELD, Ill., April 25)- The fourth-seeded McKendree University softball team eliminated sixth-seeded University of Illinois-Springfield Friday afternoon, 1-0, and are currently trailing fifth-seeded Williams Baptist College 6-1 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning. The game was suspended due to storms rolling through the area and will resume Saturday at 11 p.m.
The Bearcats currently hold an overall record of 24-17, pending the outcome of the Williams Baptist contest. The winner of the game will move on to face second-seeded William Woods University upon completion of the resumed game.
McKendree and Illinois-Springfield remained scoreless until the bottom of the seventh inning when freshman second baseman Ashley Parrott (Belleville, Ill./Belleville West) (Belleville, Ill./Belleville West) led off the inning with a single and was followed by another single by junior outfielder Amber Nikolauzyk (Mascoutah, Ill./Mascoutah HS) (Mascoutah, Ill./Mascoutah). A groundout by junior Kayla White (Buncombe, Ill./Vienna HS) (Buncombe, Ill./Vienna) moved the runners to second and third and a hit by senior outfielder Molly Reed (Carrollton, Ill./Carrollton) (Carrollton, Ill./Carrollton) scored Parrott from third to win the game.
Junior pitcher Amy Quirin (Belleville, Ill./Belleville West HS) (Belleville, Ill./Belleville West) threw the complete game, for her ninth win of the season, striking out seven and giving up only three hits. Sophomore Christine Juehne (Trenton, Ill./Wesclin HS) (Trenton, Ill./Wesclin) led the Bearcats with two hits.
McKendree got on the board first against Williams Baptist, after White led off the game with a triple and would later score on a fielding error by the shortstop to take a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. The Lady Eagles would tie the game up in the bottom of the second inning on a home run and hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the fourth to take a 4-1 lead. Williams Baptist added two more on a single in the sicth inning to make the score 6-1, where it remained when the game was suspended due to lighting in the area. The game will resume in the bottom of seventh inning.
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