The Prairie Fire ran into red hot Monmouth College and dropped both games of a doubleheader Saturday at Bobby Woll Memorial Field in Monmouth.
The Fighting Scots won the first game 11-3 and completed the sweep with an 11-5 victory in game two that locked up the Midwest Conference South Division for Monmouth College, the first league title for the softball program which comes with it a spot in the Midwest Conference Tournament. The Scots ended the regular season with seven straight wins while the Prairie Fire saw its two-game winning streak snapped.
Monmouth plated two runs in the first inning and six more in the second inning of game one for an 8-0 lead. The Prairie Fire responded with a three-run third inning to cut the Scots' lead to 8-3.
Sophomore Britt Wisniewski (Park Ridge, Illinois) drove home two runs with a single. Junior Beth McRill (Streamwood, Illinois) scored Wisniewski with a single to account for the three runs in the inning.
Monmouth did not allow another run and only three hits the rest of the way while the offense added two more runs in the fifth and one in the sixth. The Prairie Fire had eight hits in the game and no strikeouts.
Wisniewski went 1-for-3 with a run and two RBIs and first-year infielder Jordan Shaffer (Atlanta, Illinois) added a pair of hitsfor Knox.
First-year hurler Anna Lemen (Cincinnati, Ohio) took the loss in the circle. Lemen (1-8) pitched 5 1/3 innings and allowed 11 runs, only four of them earned, and 10 hits while striking out four. The Prairie Fire committed three errors in the game.
The Prairie Fire plated a run in the first inning of game two on an RBI single by Wisniewski for a brief 1-0 lead. The Scots tied the game at 1-1 on a pair of first inning hits.
Both teams went down in order in the second inning. Knox plated two runs in the third on a two-run homer by Wisniewski, her third of the season, to grab a 3-1 lead.
First-year pitcher Amber Eisha (South Wilmington, Illinois) again set the Scots down in order in the third inning. After a scoreless fourth by the Prairie Fire offense, Monmouth erupted for four runs on five hits in the bottom half to take its first lead of the game at 5-3.
The offensive onslaught continued for the Scots, which had 13 hits in the game and saw the Prairie Fire commit five errors. Monmouth scored four more runs in the fifth inning for a 9-3 cushion.
The Fire scored a run in the sixth when junior Kaylah Murphy (Canton, Illinois) grounded out to score Shaffer, who reached on a walk, to make it a 9-4 game.
The Scots extended the lead to 11-4 with two runs in the bottom of the sixth. Eisha followed in the top of the seventh with a two-out solo homer, her team-leading fourth of the season, to account for the final score.
Monmouth had 13 hits in the game to just six for the Prairie Fire.
Wisniewski had a big day, combining to go 3-for-6 with a home run, five RBIs and two runs scored.
Eisha (5-11) suffered the loss after going six innings and allowing 11 runs -- five earned -- on 13 hits.
Monmouth College (21-12, 12-1 MWC) joins Lake Forest College (14-16, 9-3 MWC) as the MWC South Division representatives in the MWC Tournament May 6 and 7 at Ripon College. The Scots are the top seed and the Foresters the #2 seed for the south.
The Red Hawks (21-7, 10-3) claimed the top seed for the MWC North Division and earned the right to host the tourney after sweeping Lawrence University 3-2, 4-3 May 2 at home. St. Norbert College (17-14, 10-3 MWC) qualified for the double elimination tournament as the #2 seed behind Ripon, which will open the postseason against Lake Forest.
The Prairie Fire (7-20, 2-11) visits Augustana College May 3 to play a doubleheader. The first game begins at 4:00 p.m.
