The Knox College softball team dropped a pair of Midwest Conference home games to rival Monmouth on Tuesday, falling 3-2 and 5-2. With these losses, the Prairie Fire drop to 5-13 overall and 0-2 in league play.
Each game was close. The Fighting Scots scored late runs to win both games.
In the opener, Knox scored first when Chelsea McKee singled home Maddie Hicks in the bottom of the second. However, the game remained a 1-0 Prairie Fire lead until Monmouth responded with a pair of runs in the fourth.Â
Knox rallied to tie the game in the sixth inning when Kara Burwell scored on an error. Still, in the seventh, Monmouth pushed across the go-ahead run, then held Knox scoreless in the bottom of the seventh.
Janet Lentini took the tough loss. She struck out six and allowed three runs in a complete game. McKee led the Prairie Fire with three hits and an RBI.
In the second game, Knox took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first as Victoria Torres singled home Taylor Goudschaal and McKee. That lead held until the Fighting Scots scored once in the third and added two in the fourth to take the lead. Monmouth then scored two more in the seventh to cap the scoring.
Torres had Knox's RBI, while seven Prairie Fire players tallied one hit each.
Knox is next in action on Saturday, playing two at Lake Forest. After that, Knox travels to Beloit for a doubleheader on Sunday. The Prairie Fire return home Wednesday, April 15, for a non-conference doubleheader vs. Eureka.
Â
