EUREKA, Ill. — After scoring just seven runs in its previous five games, the Knox College softball team put 11 on the scoreboard in a doubleheader at Eureka. But the host Red Devils bedeviled Prairie Fire pitchers and handed Knox defeats by scores of 13-4 and 15-7 on Tuesday afternoon at Sweitzer Field. Eureka evened its record at 2-2 while the Prairie Fire fell to 0-8.

Missed opportunities plagued Knox in the opening game as a dozen runners were stranded in the contest shortened to five innings. The bases were left loaded without scoring in each of the first two frames, and the Red Devils opened up a 6-0 lead thanks to a trio of RBI doubles.

But the Prairie Fire caught fire in the third, scoring three times on three walks, two singles and an error. And when junior Taylor Goudschaal delivered an RBI single in the fourth, the Knox deficit was just two, 6-4.

An error helped open the floodgates in the bottom half, however, as Eureka scored seven runs, only two of which were earned. The big blow was a bases-clearing, three-run double by Chloe Smith to cap the outburst.

Charlie Davison (0-4) took the loss despite allowing just four earned runs while striking out a pair. Red Devil right-hander Jeri Bradford (1-1) survived seven hits, eight walks and a hit batter to earn the win, pitching all five innings.

Knox fell behind by a 6-0 count in the second game as well before posting its largest inning of the year with a seven-run fourth. Much of the damage was self-inflicted by Eureka, which walked five batters with the bases loaded while Goudschaal and fifth-year Londyn Nelson added RBI singles to take a 7-6 lead.

The Red Devils called the Prairie Fire raise and added two more runs with nine runs in the bottom half thanks in part to four walks, three errors and two wild pitches.

Isabel Ramirez (1-0) picked up the victory for getting the final five outs while allowing just one run, while junior Maddie Hicks (0-1) was stuck with the loss.

Goudschaal, junior Kylie Thomson and fifth-year Haylee Carpenter each had three hits over the two games to pace the Prairie Fire offense.

After finishing up winter exams, Knox will head south to Florida for THE Spring Games with 10 games in a six-day span between March 18-23. First up will be Nazareth University (9 a.m. EDT) and Middlebury College (11:30 a.m. EDT) on March 18 at Hancock Park in Clermont, Florida.