Monmouth, IL – The Prairie Fire dropped a pair of Midwest Conference South Division games against Monmouth College on Friday afternoon.

Knox (3-11, 2-2 MWC South) lost the first game 12-4 to end a three-game winning streak before falling 17-3 to the Fighting Scots in the doubleheader finale.

Monmouth (10-7, 3-1 MWC South) combined to hit five home runs and scored in every inning of both games.  The Prairie Fire smacked three homers of their own, two by junior Amber Eisha (South Wilmington, IL, Gardner-South Wilmington) and the other by sophomore Kayla Behrens (Moline, IL, Moline).

Eisha scored on an infield error to give Knox an early 1-0 lead in the opening contest.  The Scots responded with one run in the bottom of the first, three in the second frame, and two in the third for a 6-1 advantage.

The Prairie Fire cut the Monmouth lead in half in the fourth inning when Behrens hit a two-run homer, her second of the season.  The Fighting Scots scored a run in their next at bat to extend the lead to 7-3.

Eisha belted her first home run of the season, a solo shot in the top of the fifth, to make it a 7-4 game.  Monmouth erupted for five runs in the home half of the fifth inning to end the contest.

Eisha and Behrens combined for three hits, three RBIs, and three runs for Knox.  Two of the Fighting Scots’ 12 hits were home runs.

Junior Anna Lemen (Cincinnati, OH, Cincinnati Country Day) started in the circle for the Fire and was charged with the loss.  Lemen (1-3) allowed four runs and four hits in 1 2/3 innings with two strikeouts and a walk.

Like the first game, Knox took the early lead on an RBI single by Eisha in the top of the first inning.  Monmouth answered with five runs in the bottom of the inning.  The Fighting Scots added two more runs in the second inning and seven in the third for a 14-1 advantage.

Knox plated a run in the fourth on a single by sophomore Claire Neri (Melrose Park, IL, West Leyden) that scored first-year Annie Ford (Oak Park, IL, Oak Park-River Forest), who walked with one out.  Monmouth built its lead to 17-2 with three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning.

The Prairie Fire scored their final run of the game when Eisha hit her second solo home run of the day.

The Fighting Scots outhit Knox 12-6 in the game.  Eisha’s two hits and two runs batted in led the Prairie Fire offense.  Neri, sophomore Brittney Price (Wyoming, IL, Stark County), sophomore Rhiannon Neuville (Eugene, OR, South Eugene), and junior Avecena Hollingsworth (Tigard, OR, Tigard) had the other hits for Knox.

First-year hurler Karli Shields (Naperville, IL, Neuqua Valley) suffered the loss after she gave up seven runs, four of them earned, and five hits in 1 2/3 innings.  Shields (1-3) struck out one batter and walked two.

Knox tries to get back on track against Lake Forest College on Sunday at home.  The first game of the doubleheader is at 1:00 p.m. 

The Foresters (5-9, 0-0 MWC South) have lost two straight games going into a doubleheader against MWC South Division foe Cornell College (8-5, 1-1 MWC South) on Saturday in Mount Vernon, Iowa.

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