Game #1 box score
Game #2 box score
Mount Pleasant, IA – Iowa Wesleyan College halted the Prairie Fire’s bid to build on two straight victories by winning both games of a non-conference doubleheader on Saturday.
The Tigers (6-17) won the opener 10-1 in five innings to snap a three-game slide. Wesleyan completed the sweep with a 5-0 victory in the second game.
Knox had 10 days off between games. The Prairie Fire (2-4) defeated Harris-Stowe State University 6-0 and 7-4 on March 14 in St. Louis. The team was scheduled to play a twinbill on March 16 at McKendree University, but the games were cancelled because of rain.
Two big innings lifted Iowa Wesleyan past the Prairie Fire in the first game. The Tigers scored five runs in the bottom of the second inning for a 5-0 lead. The hosts scored five more times on five hits in the third to extend the advantage to 10-0.
Knox (2-4) scored in the fourth inning after sophomore Jordan Shaffer (Atlanta, IL, Olympia) led off with a double. Senior Beth McRill (Streamwood, IL, Streamwood) moved Shaffer to third with a one out single. First-year infielder Jenna Butler (Downers Grove, IL, Downers Grove North) followed with a single that scored Shaffer to prevent a shutout.
Iowa Wesleyan outhit the Prairie Fire 11-3.
Sophomore Amber Eisha (South Wilmington, IL, Gardner-South Wilmington) pitched 2 2/3 innings and took the loss for Knox. Sophomore Anna Lemen (Cincinnati, OH, Cincinnati Country Day) threw 1 1/3 innings of shutout relief, allowing two hits and striking out one.
Jillian Leutscher was the winning pitcher. She gave up an earned run on three hits.
The Prairie Fire couldn’t break through against Wesleyan pitcher Sonja Holmes in the second game. Knox had runners in scoring position in the second, fifth, and seventh innings but couldn’t bring them home.
The Tigers, like the first game, scored all of their runs in two innings. Wesleyan took advantage of a pair of hits and an error to jump out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second.
Knox tried to rally with two out in the fifth inning. Senior Amanda Wollrab (Knoxville, IL, Knoxville) singled. First-year outfielder Claire Neri (Melrose Park, IL, West Leyden) was called on to pinch hit and she reached base on an infield error, advancing Wollrab to second. The Tigers got out of the inning when junior Avecena Hollingsworth (Tigard, OR, Tigard) flied out to center.
Lemen relieved Eisha in the circle before Wesleyan batted in the bottom of the fifth. Eisha threw four effective innings, allowing one earned run on three hits.
The first two hitters for the Tigers greeted Lemen with singles, placing runners on first and third base. Nobody advanced when the next batter was retired on a fly ball, the first out of the inning. Wesleyan made it 3-0 when the first batter to reach base scored on a sacrifice fly. A walk followed by an error that allowed two more runs to score extended the Tigers’ lead to 5-0.
The Prairie Fire, after holding the Iowa Wesleyan in check in the sixth inning, didn’t go quietly in their last at-bat.
Butler doubled to lead off the seventh. Following a strike out, first-year infielder Rhiannon Neuville-Norton (Eugene, OR, South Eugene) singled and moved up to second base on the throw as Butler raced into third.
Holmes ended any hopes of a Knox comeback by getting the next two hitters to line out and strikeout. She threw a five hit shutout and struck out five for the victory.
Eisha (1-3) was saddled with the loss in the nightcap. Lemen pitched two innings and gave up an earned run on two hits.
Neuville-Norton had two of the Prairie Fire’s five hits with a 2-for-3 effort at the plate, raising her average to .364. She also stole her second base of the season.
Knox travels to Eureka College for a non-conference doubleheader on Wednesday. The first game against the Red Devils (3-11) starts at 3:00 p.m.
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