Blackburn Softball splits doubleheader with conference foe Greenville
Leading into this doubleheader, Blackburn has been playing great softball as they are on a seven-game winning streak, which is something they have not achieved in over twelve years. Greenville has won their last their nine out of ten games. So with both teams playing excellent softball, this was a very appealing conference showdown. Going into today's matchup Blackburn has not beaten Greenville since 2013.
The Blackburn Softball Team splits doubleheader with home Greenville Panthers by the scores of 6-5 (nine innings) Blackburn and 7-2 Greenville on Wednesday April 10, 2019. Games were played at Greenville University in Greenville, IL.
The first game displayed plenty of offense as both teams combined for 24 hits and eleven runs. The Beavers struck first as Megan Moseley (Clinton, Indiana / Riverton Parke) continued to impress as she singled up the middle to extend her seven game hitting-streak and advanced Bailey Hughes (Carlinville, Illinois / Carlinville) to third. Then Tessa Beckham (Litchfield, Illinois / Litchfield) singled up the middle to score Hughes and advance Moseley to third. That was all the Beavers could get across. In the bottom of the first, Greenville was destined to score as they loaded the bases and had no outs. Pitcher Halle Fransen (Pearl City, Illinois / Pearl City) found herself in a jam but got the next three batters out via flyout and two strikeouts to hold the lead. To leadoff the second inning, Hughes connected for her second double of the game and drove in Abby Frerichs (Litchfield, Illinois / Litchfield) to extend the lead to 2-0. Haley Shull (Taylorville, Illinois / Taylorville) reached on an error allowing Hughes to score and add to the lead, making it 3-0. In the bottom of the second, the Panthers were in business once again as they had the bases loaded with only one out. Fransen was not phased as she struck out the next two batters to keep Greenville off the board. For the third consecutive inning Blackburn scored as Frerichs singled up the middle to score Fransen. The lead was 4-0 heading into the bottom of the third. Greenville finally found a way to score as Kendall Farr hit a two-run homer to left center and cut the deficit in half going into the fourth. After a few quiet innings the Panthers were threatening to score in the seventh inning as they had the bases loaded, and then Farr drew a walk to cut the lead to just one. Then Cayla Speaks singled to the pitcher to drive in the tying run. Greenville again had the bases loaded with no outs and needed only one run to walk-off. Beckham was now pitching for the Beavers and got the next three batters out to send the game to extra innings. In the eighth Brooke Daniels (Lapel, Indiana / Lapel) singled to center field to give Blackburn a one-run advantage. In the bottom of the eighth inning Deidra Holzhauer reached on a fielder's choice to drive in a run to tie the game. In the ninth the Beavers took the lead again as Moseley reached on an error allowing Kennedy Henson (Centralia, Illinois / Centralia) to score. In the bottom of the ninth the bases were loaded as Olivia Shipman reached on a fielder's choice and Farr was thrown out at home to prevent the Panthers from scoring. Beckham struck out the last batter to move the Beavers winning streak to eight games. Hughes lead Blackburn with two hits and an RBI. Fransen started the game for the Beavers pitching six innings allowing ten hits, three earned runs, three walks, and four strikeouts. Beckham pitched in relief and was the winning pitcher. She pitched three innings allowed three hits, one earned run, four walks, and three strikeouts. Caitie Opp was the starting pitcher for Greenville as she threw two innings where she allowed five hits and two earned runs. Maegan Stone pitched seven innings in relief as she allowed six hits, one earned run, one walk, and three strikeouts.
In the second game Blackburn took an early lead in the first inning as Moseley stayed hot and singled to drive in Shull. After a couple quiet innings Greenville took the lead and scored five runs in the bottom of the third. The Panthers took advantage of some sloppy softball as Blackburn committed three errors and strung together three hits. In the top of the fourth inning the Beavers had two runners in scoring position with only one out. It looked like Blackburn was going to cut into the lead, but they were unable to. Greenville extended their lead in the bottom of the fourth as Kayla Zimmerman singled through the left side to give the Panthers a 6-1 lead. In the fifth inning with two outs, the Beavers were hoping for a two out spark as Shull doubled to right center and Moseley walked. Unfortunately, the Beavers squandered the two-out rally. In the sixth Lexie Yockey (Pleasant Plains, Illinois / Pleasant Plains) reached first on a throwing error which allowed Kaitlyn Wade to score. That was the only run the Beavers could score and the lead for the Panthers was 6-2 heading into the bottom of the inning. The Panthers got that run back as Holzhauer singled through the right side to score Zimmerman. The lead was 7-2 which was the final score. The Beavers had three batters with two hits. Moseley was the only one with an RBI. Hughes was on the losing end as she pitched a complete game allowing 10 hits, four earned runs, one walk, and one strikeout. The winning pitcher for Greenville, Farr also had a complete game allowing nine hits, one earned run, one walk and one strikeout.
Blackburn is 11-13 (6-6 SLIAC). Greenville is 16-6 (10-2 SLIAC).
UP NEXT: Blackburn will host Westminster Saturday, April 13th. The first pitch is at 12pm.