MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The Fighting Illini softball team dropped a 14-6 decision to Minnesota in five innings Saturday afternoon at Jane Sage Cowles Stadium.
Illinois (16-13, 2-2 B1G) was led by 1-for-2 appearances at the plate by Bella Loya, Avrey Steiner, and Megan Ward, with five different Illini batters recording RBIs in the contest.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Gophers grabbed the lead early via two home runs in the bottom of the first, and added to their lead in the bottom half of the second inning via another home run and seven more runs in the bottom of the third inning to move the score to 13-0 through three innings.
Illinois responded with a scoring run of their own in the fourth, with Steiner and Ward nothing back-to-back singles before Loya drove in Steiner on an RBI double. In the following plate appearance, Ryono singled up the middle to score Ward, and Zoie Howard stole home to add a third run in the inning for the Illini.
Minnesota added another run to their lead in the bottom of the fourth, and Illinois came up to bat in the fifth refusing to go down without a fight. A Zoe Caryl single and back-to-back walks from Jaelyn Vickery and Steiner loaded the bases with none out. Ward then walked in a run followed by a Danielle Davis SAC fly to push the score to 5-14 Gophers. On the following play, a throwing error tallied another Illini run, but a ground out ended the game in five innings for the Gophers.
UP NEXT
The rubber match between Illinois and Minnesota is set for first pitch tomorrow (April 3) at 11:00 a.m. CT. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN2, Illinois' first appearance on ESPN networks this season.
