Cape Coral, FL – The Prairie Fire lost a pair of close games on Friday in the Gene Cusic Classic.

Knox fell to Worcester State University 4-1 in the first contest and 3-0 against the University of Wisconsin-Superior in the second game of the day.

The Prairie Fire, hitless until their final at bat in the top of the seventh inning, had the tying run at the plate against UW- Superior (9-8) before the Yellow Jackets escaped with the victory.  UW-S has shut out three straight opponents.

Junior Amber Eisha (South Wilmington, IL, Gardner-South Wilmington) reached on an infield error with two outs in the Knox seventh.  Junior Alyssa Bleidorn (Batavia, IL, Batavia) followed with a single that advanced Eisha to third base while Bleidorn moved to second on the throw.  Yellow Jackets pitcher Amanda Le Bard got out of the jam when sophomore Kayla Behrens (Moline, IL, Moline) fouled off a pitch that was caught by the first baseman.

First-year hurler Karli Shields (Naperville, IL, Neuqua Valley) suffered the loss despite pitching well for the Prairie Fire.  She threw six innings and allowed three runs, only one earned, eight hits and struck out two.  Le Bard, who recorded eight strike outs, went the distance to earn the win for U-W Superior.

The Yellow Jackets scored two unearned runs in the bottom of the first inning and scored the final run of the game in the fourth frame.

Worcester State broke a 1-1 tie with three runs in the fourth inning in the first game against Knox.

Trailing 1-0 after the Lancers plated a run in the bottom of the second, the Prairie Fire answered with a run in the top half of the third inning to knot the contest at 1-1.  Bleidorn singled to drive in sophomore Rhiannon Neuville (Eugene, OR, South Eugene), who got on base with a one-out hit.

Knox (0-7) threatened in the fifth inning when junior Anna Lemen (Cincinnati, OH, Cincinnati Country Day) led off with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by junior Avecena Hollingsworth (Tigard, OR, Tigard).  An error that allowed Neuville to reach and a single by Eisha loaded the bases.  Worcester (4-4) got out of trouble by retiring the next two hitters on an infield pop up and a strikeout, and then held the Prairie Fire to one hit over the last two innings.

Bleidorn, Eisha, and senior Jill Krippel (Plainfield, IL, Plainfield Central) had two hits apiece for Knox, which had eight in the game.

Eisha turned in a solid pitching performance for the Prairie Fire but was charged with the loss.  She allowed three earned runs and nine hits in six innings.

Knox concludes the trip to Florida with a doubleheader against Hamilton College (3-7) on Saturday.  The first game is scheduled to start at 9:00 a.m. (EST).

Follow Prairie Fire athletics on Twitter