GALESBURG, Ill. — Riding the emotion of Senior Day, the Knox College softball team nearly won its first game of the season before faltering late in the first of two contests against Lawrence on Sunday afternoon, 6-4. The visiting Vikings (7-13, 2-0 Midwest Conference) then stormed to a 10-1 triumph in the nightcap to sweep the doubleheader from the Prairie Fire (0-23, 0-4 MWC).
Knox put a pair of unearned runs on the board in the first of the opener when senior Maddie Poetzinger lined a two-out liner to right that was missed by the right fielder, allowing two runs to score. Lawrence got one of those runs back in the second on an RBI double, but the score remained 2-1 through four innings as fifth-year Londyn Nelson baffled the Viking hitters with her assortment of pitches.
But Lawrence rapped out five hits off Nelson (0-9) in the fifth to plate three runs and take a 4-2 lead. The Prairie Fire closed the gap to one in its half of the fifth when fifth-year Haylee Carpenter roped an RBI single to center. But with runners on the corners and just one out, Knox could not push across the tying run.
The two sides traded runs in the sixth as first-year Kenzi Chandler drove in a run with an infield hit. The Vikings tallied an insurance run on a two-out double in the seventh, and Avery Chilson (2-7) completed the game in the circle by retiring the side in order to close out the 6-4 win for Lawrence.
Carpenter had two of the five Knox hits in the contest, scoring a run and driving in another. The Vikings banged out 14 safeties, led by Gillian Guerriero and Janessa Gonalez with three apiece.
The second game was also tight through four innings with the score tied at one. The lone Lawrence run came home in the third on a bases-loaded walk, junior Taylor Goudschaal lined a two-out, RBI single to bring Carpenter home from second base in the fourth frame to knot the score.
The Vikings knocked sophomore Janet Lentini (0-2) from the circle in the fifth, however, as the first two batters drew walks. Gonzalez gave Lawrence the lead with an RBI single, and Guerriero doubled home two more for a 4-1 lead.
The game blew wide open in the sixth as the Vikings ransacked the village to bring home six more runs with the big blows being a Mattigan Haller two-run blast and a Guerriero two-run triple.
Georgia Sedlock (4-3) earned the victory with a six-inning complete game, allowing one run on two hits and one walk while striking out nine. Guerriero finished off her big day going 3-for-3 with five RBIs.
The Prairie Fire plays again next weekend with conference doubleheaders at Lake Forest on Saturday and Beloit on Sunday. Both twinbills will begin at 1 p.m. for Senior Day with Lawrence University (5-13, 0-0 MWC) in town for a doubleheader at 1 p.m. with live video stream of the action available through PrairieFire.Knox.edu, the official website of Knox Athletics.
