The Prairie Fire, after playing several close games, erupted for double-digit runs in the finale of a doubleheader April 13 at home against Eureka College to earn a split.
Eureka and Knox played through seven scoreless innings in the first game before the Red Devils plated two runs in the top of the eighth in a 2-1 win over the Fire.
Knox grabbed the lead early in the second game. Junior Amanda Wollrab (Knoxville, Illinois) drove home two runs with a single for a 2-0 advantage.
Eureka responded with a run in the bottom of the second inning to cut the Prairie Fire lead to 2-1. Knox plated three more runs in the third inning on three hits for a 5-1 lead.
The Prairie Fire scored with two outs in the third. Sophomore Britt Wisniewski (Park Ridge, Illinois) doubled and scored on a double by first-year player Amber Eisha (South Wilmington, Illinois). First-year player Jordan Shaffer (Atlanta, Illinois), who reached base on a walk, scored on a wild pitch. Junior Beth McRill (Streamwood, Illinois) drove home Eisha with a single for the third run of the inning.
The Red Devils followed with two runs on four hits in the top of the fourth off of Eisha to cut the deficit to 5-3.
The Prairie Fire put the game out of reach with four runs in the fifth. Eureka walked four batters, uncorked two wild pitches and had two passed balls, allowing Knox do its damage on only two hits. One was an RBI single by McRill and the other was a single by first-year player Anna Lemen (Cincinnati, Ohio).
The Prairie Fire scored two more runs in the sixth inning to take an 11-3 lead, prompting the end of the game via the eight-run rule with two outs.
Knox had 10 hits in the game and took advantage of six walks, six wild pitches and two passed balls by the Red Devils.
Lemen (1-5) earned the win in the circle, her first of the season. She allowed three runs on eight hits while striking out two in four innings. Eisha shut out Eureka over the last two innings on three hits while also striking out two.
Wollrab and McRill drove in two runs apiece for the Fire. Eisha was 3-for-3 with an RBI and four runs scored and Wisniewski contributed two hits and two runs.
Lemen tossed five scoreless innings, scattering four hits in the first game. Eisha, who relieved Lemen in the sixth inning, took the loss (1-9) after giving up five hits and two earned runs in three innings of work.
Wollrab and junior Kaylah Murphy (Canton, Illinois) combined for four of the Fire's five hits in game one and Murphy drove in her team's only run in the eighth inning.
The win by the Prairie Fire (3-16) in game two snapped a 14-game slide. The games against Eureka were the first at home this season for Knox, which saw its previously scheduled doubleheader March 5 against the Red Devils postponed.
The Prairie Fire was scheduled to play Grinnell College in a Midwest Conference South Division twinbill at home April 16, but those games were postponed by rain until April 30 at 1:00 and 3:00 p.m.
Knox tries to build on the win against Eureka College with a pair of games at home April 17 against Robert Morris University-Springfield. The first begins at 1:00 followed by game two at 3:00.
