March 25, 2015
Box Score (PDF)
St. Charles, Mo. - The Fighting Illini softball team squared off with No. 20 Missouri on Wednesday in the annual border battle at Lindenwood University. The Tigers (21-5) took an early 12-0 lead, but the Illini (8-20) did not roll over, plating five runs in the bottom of the third before the Tigers completed the victory, 17-5, in six innings. Despite originally planning for a doubleheader, the pair had to settle for a single game due to rain.
"Missouri hits, defends and is solid in the circle," said head coach Terri Sullivan. "We battled the entire way, but we weren't at our best today defensively or in the circle."
Allie Bauch and Carly Thomas led the Illini at the plate, each going 2-for-3, as Bauch added a walk and a run, while Thomas had a bases-clearing double. Alyssa Gunther singled to set up the third-inning rally, and Nicole Evans and Jess Perkins each had RBI singles in the frame. Brittany Sanchez provided the remaining Illini hit with a leadoff double in the fourth.
The Tigers collected 15 hits in the game, 10 for extra bases, while scoring their most runs since 2003. Junior Sami Fagan was the star of the lineup, going 4-for-5 with two triples, two RBIs and three runs scored, while Amanda Sanchez hit two of the Tigers' five home runs.
Jade Vecvanags (2-7) got the starting nod for the Illini, but left after allowing four runs on three hits and four walks in the first inning. Breanna Wonderly tossed a scoreless second, but allowed seven runs (only one of which was earned) in the third, leading to another pitching change. Kate Giddens provided two-and-two-thirds innings of quality relief, giving up three runs, two earned, on three walks and five hits, before senior Shelese Arnold took over for the final frame, surrendering the final three runs of the ballgame.
Tori Finucane (10-5), the 2014 SEC Freshman of the Year, hurled the first four innings for the Tigers, allowing all five runs on eight hits and two walks, and Cheyenne Baxter provided two frames of hitless relief.
Missouri struck early, plating four runs in the top of the first. Fagan drove in the first run, tucking an RBI single inside the right-field line. Amanda Sanchez followed with a two-run shot to right, and an infield single with the bases loaded by Morgan Walters made it 4-0 Mizzou before the Illini first stepped up to the plate.
Wonderly came in and took care of the Tigers in the top of the second, but Kirsten Mack crushed a two-run bomb over the 20-foot wall in straightaway center in the top of the third to make it 6-0 Mizzou. The hit parade continued, as the Tigers put up a total of eight runs in the innings, seven of which were unearned, bringing Giddens to the circle and running the score to 12-0 before the end of the frame.
The Illini struck back in the bottom of the third, sending five runs across the plate on five hits. Bauch got the Illini going with a one-out single to left, and Gunther followed with a single through the left side. Evans drove in the first Illini run with a single up the middle, and another RBI single by Perkins sent Ruby Rivera across the plate. Remeny Perez was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and Thomas cleared the bags with a double to the base of the wall in left center before being thrown out trying to stretch it to a triple to end the inning.
Missouri loaded the bases with one out in the top of the fifth, but Giddens drew a pair of groundouts for her second straight scoreless inning. Illinois threatened in back-to-back innings, loading the bases in the fourth and getting a pair in scoring position in the fifth, but the Orange and Blue were unable to come up with that big hit, as the score remained 12-5 after five.
"Missouri got the early lead and then we put up the five runs to get back into striking distance," said Sullivan. "Giddens came up with a big ground out to leave the bases loaded in the fifth. We had our own bases loaded in the fourth and two on in the fifth...We felt the momentum shifting and they made a pitching change and came up with some big outs."
Arnold came in with two runners on in the top of the sixth and surrendered a grand slam to Kelsea Roth as part of five-run sixth inning, and the Illini stranded two runners in the bottom half to close the game with a final score of 17-5.
Next Up: The Fighting Illini return home this weekend to host Indiana in their second Big Ten series of the season. The Hoosiers (10-22) come to Champaign after dropping two of three to Rutgers in the Scarlet Knights' first-ever Big Ten series last weekend in Bloomington.
