PEORIA, Ill. — A six-run rally in the fifth inning was not enough to come back and beat Augustana College in the second game of the day for the Knox College softball team as the Vikings (4-0) handed the Prairie Fire (0-4) a 14-6 defeat in the final game for both teams at the Blue Angel Invite hosted by Mount Mary University at the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex. Loras College (4-0) blanked Knox earlier in the day, 8-0.
The Prairie Fire were facing the run rule in the bottom of the fifth inning with Augustana sporting an 11-0 lead. But the Knox batters displayed tremendous patience and waited out the struggling Viking pitcher to draw six walks in the frame. Add in four wild pitches, a passed ball, an error and a double steal of home and the Prairie Fire put six runs on the board without the aid of a hit, closing the gap to 11-6.
But in sixth, the Vikings tacked on another run followed by two more on a triple in the seventh to ensure Knox could not complete the comeback.
First-years Lauren O'Neill and Chelsea McKee had the only two hits for the Prairie Fire in the game, while fifth-year Londyn Nelson (0-2) was stuck with the loss in the circle.
Jordan Faust (1-0) was credited with the win for Augustana, retiring all seven batters she faced to close out the contest. The Viking offense rapped out 20 hits, including a 4-for-4 performance from Maya Viel.
In Knox's first game of the day, the bats were unable to get on track against Kali Henning (1-0), who tossed five frames of one-hit ball in the shortened game, walking just two and fanning five. But she could not retire McKee, who banged out the Fire's lone hit and also walked in her other plate appearance.
The Duhawks put three runs on the board in the first, another in the second and two in the third — the first on a solo blast off the bat of Katherine Svigelj — to open up a 6-0 lead. Nelson replaced sophomore Charlie Davison (0-2) on the mount to start the fourth and put a goose egg on the board with a little help from fifth-year left fielder Alycea Burnett who gunned down a runner at the plate. But in the fifth, the game came to an end via the run rule following back-to-back RBI doubles.
The Prairie Fire will not be back in action for two and a half weeks when they play a doubleheader at Eureka College on March 11. First pitch for the first game is scheduled for 2 p.m.
