Galesburg, IL – The Prairie Fire got back on track with a pair of Midwest Conference victories against Grinnell College on Sunday.

Knox won the opener 8-0 to snap a two game slide and then completed the doubleheader sweep by downing the Pioneers 6-2 in the finale.

Junior Amber Eisha (South Wilmington, IL, Gardner-South Wilmington) pitched a three-hit shutout in the first game for the Prairie Fire.  Eisha (3-9) struck out four and walked two in her second shutout and ninth complete game of the season to earn the win.

Knox scored four times in the third inning with two outs to give Eisha more than enough run support.  Sophomore Kayla Behrens (Moline, IL, Moline) belted a two-run homer, her fourth of the season, for a 3-0 lead.  An RBI single by sophomore Brittney Price (Wyoming, IL, Stark County) made it 4-0 and first-year Annie Ford (Oak Park, IL, Oak Park-River Forest) scored the fifth run of the game on a throw back into the infield following the hit by Price.

Eisha held the Pioneers (0-25, 0-11 MWC) to lead-off singles in both the first and second innings, and a lead-off double in the fifth.

The Prairie Fire scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the first inning when Behrens drove in sophomore Rhiannon Neuville (Eugene, OR, South Eugene).

Sophomore Claire Neri (Melrose Park, IL, West Leyden) walked with the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth inning to extend the Knox advantage to 6-0. 

The Prairie Fire (6-19, 5-8 MWC) scored their last two runs in the bottom of the sixth on RBI singles by junior Alyssa Bleidorn (Batavia, IL, Batavia) and Ford to end the game via the eight run mercy rule.

Behrens had three hits, three RBIs, and two runs scored for Knox.  Bleidorn added three hits and scored twice.

First-year Karli Shields (Naperville, IL, Neuqua Valley) had a breakout game to help the Prairie Fire win the twinbill finale and complete the sweep of Grinnell.

Shields hit a solo homer, her first of the season, as part of a four-run fourth inning.  Ford drove in two runs with a single for a 2-0 Knox lead.  Price scored on an infield error followed by the home run from Shields to left field that gave the hosts a 4-0 lead.

Grinnell cut the deficit to 4-2 in the top of the fifth inning with runs scoring on a passed ball and a single.

Eisha relieved Shields, who started the nightcap in the circle, with one out in the fifth and a runner on first base.  Eisha induced a pair of ground ball outs sandwiched between an error and prevented the Pioneers from adding any more runs.

Shields provided the rest of the scoring for Knox with her second homer of the game, a two-run shot, with one out in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Shields (2-6) was also the winning pitcher while Eisha earned her first save of the season.  The only blemish on Eisha’s pitching stat line was a walk in 2 2/3 innings of work that included two strikeouts.  Shields threw 4 1/3 innings and gave up two unearned runs, three hits, five walks and struck out six.

Shields was 2-for-3 at the plate with three RBIs and two runs scored.  Nueville added two hits for the Prairie Fire.

Knox owns five straight wins against Grinnell and the Prairie Fire’s five Midwest Conference wins to date are the most since the 2004 and 2005 teams also won five conference games.

Knox welcomes Eureka College for a doubleheader on April 24.  The first game is scheduled to start at 3:00.  The Red Devils (16-11) have won eight straight games going into a conference doubleheader at home against Blackburn College on April 23.

Eureka’s last loss was a 4-0 setback at Webster University on April 12.

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