GALESBURG – It has been a long time since the Prairie Fire had a season-opener like this.
The Knox College softball team opened the season strong, sweeping Principia at home on Tuesday, 13-5 and 12-4, both in five innings. This marks the program's first 2-0 start since 2003.
Offensively, the Prairie Fire tallied 16 hits in game one and 12 in game two.
In the opener, Chelsea McKee led off with four hits, three runs, and five RBI, sparking multiple rallies. Maddie Hicks followed with three RBI and two hits. Maria Olivas, Kylie Thomson, Janet Lentini, and Becca Stode each had two hits, with Lentini adding three RBI. Strode, Lauren O'Neill, and Thomson each scored twice.
Lentini earned the win, pitching five innings with seven strikeouts.
With the score tied 1-1 after the top of the second, Knox went to work. The Prairie Fire scored four runs in the inning, with Lentini and Hicks each plating a pair with doubles.
In the third, the Prairie Fire added five runs, highlighted by McKee's three-run double. In the fourth, McKee hit a two-run triple, followed by an RBI single from Hicks to cap the scoring.
In game two, Knox scored eight runs in the first inning, led by Thomson's and Strode's two-run doubles, taking an 8-1 lead.
Strode's third-inning single put Knox ahead 9-2.
The teams traded runs until the fifth, when Hicks' two-run double secured Knox's 12-4 run-rule win.
McKee had two more hits while Hicks and Thoms drove in a pair. Strode added three hits, three RBI, and two runs, while pitcher Zoe Abbott had two hits and scored two runs.
Abbott, along with reliever Victoria Torres, combined to strike out three Principia batters and allow three earned runs.
Knox is off for a week and next plays Tuesday in Florida, seeking its first 3-0 start since 1994.
