(SPRINGFIELD, Ill., April 8) – Senior pitcher Amy Quirin (Belleville, Ill./Belleville West HS) (Belleville, Ill./Belleville West) struck out eight batters over six innings in a 12-2 American Midwest Conference win over University of Illinois at Springfield on Wednesday. Her 550 career strikeouts passed Amy Maurer's mark of 547 strikeouts set during her career from 2002-05.

Freshman pitcher Autumn Allen (Fairview Heights, Ill./Belleville East HS) (Belleville, Ill./Belleville East) struck out 13 Prairie Star's and only gave up two hits in a 1-0 win in game two of the doubleheader. Her 13 strikeouts is the second highest single game total in McKendree softball history.

McKendree, now 17-12 overall and 6-4 in the AMC, will host a non-conference doubleheader against Culver-Stockton College Thursday at 3 p.m.

The Bearcats struck first in game one and scored three runs in the top of the first inning to take the early lead. An RBI single by sophomore first baseman Cathy Webb (Mascoutah, Ill./Mascoutah HS) (Mascoutah, Ill./Mascoutah) scored senior centerfielder Kayla White (Buncombe, Ill./Vienna HS) (Buncombe, Ill./Vienna) for the first run of the game. Freshman catcher Lindsay McGuire (Benton, Ill./Benton HS) (Benton, Ill./Benton) would score on a fielding error by the second baseman to make the score 2-0. Webb scored the third and final run of the inning on an error by the third baseman.

In the top of the fourth inning, McKendree started with three consecutive singles to load the bases for McGuire, who drilled a pitch into deep centerfield for her first collegiate grand slam to make the score 7-0. The Prairie Stars would score two runs in the bottom of the fourth to make the score 7-2.

McKendree struck again in the fifth inning, scoring on an RBI single by junior designated player Christine Juehne (Trenton, Ill./Wesclin HS) (Trenton, Ill./Wesclin) and on a double by McGuire to push their lead to 9-2. The Bearcats scored their final three runs of the game in the sixth inning on RBI singles by junior rightfielder Taylee Spicuzza (Dahlgren, Ill./Hamilton County HS) (Dahlgren, Ill./Hamilton County) and White, and a double by senior leftfielder Amber Nikolauzyk (Mascoutah, Ill./Mascoutah HS) (Mascoutah, Ill./Mascoutah).

Quirin improved to 7-5 on the season in the win. Five McKendree players had multiple hits on the day and were led by White's three hits, three runs scored and one RBI with a double. McGuire also had three hits, with two runs scored and five RBI with a double and a grand slam.

The Bearcats only had three hits in game two, but rode a dominating performance by Autumn Allen (Fairview Heights, Ill./Belleville East HS) to win 1-0. Sophomore shortstop Ashley Agee (Moberly, Mo./Moberly HS) (Moberly, Mo./Moberly) led off the second inning by getting hit with a pitch and would later steal second base to get in scoring position. The steal paid off and Agee scored on an error by the first baseman to score what would be the game-winning run.

Allen improved to 6-4 on the season with the win in game two. Freshman second baseman Casey White (Buncombe, Ill./Vienna HS) (Buncombe, Ill./Vienna) had a double in game two, while Kayla White (Buncombe, Ill./Vienna HS) and Nikolauzyk both also had one hit.

-McK-