PEKIN, ILL.- The Western Illinois softball team finished the Country Inn and Suites Softball Invitational with a 2-2 record, defeating IUPUI 8-3, and losing to Bradley, 5-1, in the final day of the tournament.

In game three of the tournament, Western Illinois defeated IUPUI, 8-3, sealing the victory by scoring four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning.

The four-run inning started on a Michelle Neubauer single to left field and was one of two hits in the inning. The Jaguars (0-4) pitching staff threw three illegal pitches in the inning, setting up the four runs for the Westerwinds (2-2). The second hit was by sophomore Erin Schlotfeldt who hit an RBI single up the middle, scoring freshman Ashley Campbell. An Anna Nelson strikeout ended the fourth in favor of the Westerwinds, 6-1.

Lead-off hitter Lauren Furgala got the Westerwinds offense started in the first inning as she reached first base on a bunt and continued to propel the offense, stealing second and third base. A Jamie Goss sacrifice bunt would score Furgala, making the score, 1-0, in favor of the Westerwinds. Schlotfeldt grounded out to the IUPUI short stop to end the inning.

A RBI single to center field from Stacy Harte scored Amy Raker for the Jaguars, ending the second inning tied, 1-1.

In the bottom of the third, Campbell singled up the middle and eventually scored the only run of the inning off a Schlotfeldt RBI double to right-center field, ending the third with a 2-1 lead.

A Jessica Huey double to right-center field scored two IUPUI base runners, making the score 6-3 in the top of the fifth. The Westerwinds got a run of their own in the bottom of the fifth on a Furgala RBI single, pushing the lead to four.

The Westerwinds scored one more run in the bottom of the sixth on a Michelle Prieto RBI single to score Campbell, making the final score 8-3.

From the pitching circle, Campbell threw her first-complete game for the purple and gold, allowing three earned runs on seven hits. The freshman pitcher also scored three runs and recorded a hit in the game.

Schlotfeldt finished the game with a game-high two RBI on 2-for-4 hitting and Furgala recorded two hits and an RBI, going 2-for-3 at the plate.

In game two of the tournament, the Westerwinds were defeated by the Bradley, 5-1.

The Braves (3-1) got on the scoreboard first as they scored two runs in the bottom of the second on hits from Jackie Roth and Miriam Wegmann, taking the first lead of the game, 2-0.

The Westerwinds offense got a spark in the top of the fifth when Campbell hit a triple down the right-field line. Sophomore Nikki Marinec reached first base when she was hit by a pitch and advanced to second when sophomore Colleen Biebel grounded out to the pitcher on the following play. Prieto hit a RBI single to third base, scoring the Westerwinds only run of the game when Campbell crossed home plate. Neubauer and Furgala were both struck out by Braves pitcher Anne Creighton, ending the top of the fifth down by three runs.

The Braves answered the Westerwinds score in the bottom of fifth with a score of their own on a Katelyn Kegley RBI single, pushing the lead to four.

The Western offense tried to make another comeback in the top of the sixth when Schlotfeldt singled up the middle, followed by a Goss double to left-center field. The Westerwinds were unable to advance the bases runners as Campbell popped out to the short stop and Marinec struck out to end the top of sixth still down by four runs.

Senior Kamren Ferguson (1-1) picked up the loss, allowing seven hits and one earned run in six innings of work.

Prieto had a game-high three hits as she went 3-for-3 at the plate, driving in the only run for the Westerwinds.

Up Next
The Westerwinds are back in action on Feb. 12-14 when they travel to Minneapolis, Minn., to participate in the Metrodome Tournament where they will face Minnesota, Green Bay, Northern Iowa, Arkansas and Drake.

Postgame notes
Freshman Ashley Campbell (1-0) got her first win from the pitching circle as she threw a complete game, only allowing three earned runs on seven hits in the 8-3 win over IUPUI.

Five different Westerwinds have combine for 10 stolen bases on the year, seven more than their opponents.

Postgame quotes
Western Illinois head coach Holly Van Vlymen

On the team's overall performance

"Our aggressiveness at the plate and on the bases was great all weekend. The girls are swinging at great pitches and are running the bases very well so far this season."

"Our pitchers did a great job this weekend. We gave up a couple of big hits here and there, but other than that, they did a great job and I am really proud of them."

"Defensively, it was a little bit of a roller coaster ride, but we are going to make the proper adjustments this week at practice. We have been practicing indoors, so it has been a little bit of a challenge making the adjustments to different playing surfaces, but I have expected these growing pains. As I told the team, ?When you make a fielding error, come back from it. Take a minute to calm down, get over the mistake and deal with it. Sometimes you are going to make an error, but you need to react positively and adjust accordingly.'"

On getting four games in before the Metrodome Tournament next weekend

"I feel good because the playing surface this weekend is the same as the Metrodome. The girls are now use to playing, hitting and fielding on the turf, so I feel good about going up there this upcoming weekend. One thing I told the girls, ?We have to be more consistent with our approach to the game and we need to be the same positive team whether we are up five runs or down by five runs.'"

Freshman Ashley Campbell
On getting your first win from the pitching circle

"It was amazing and a lot of fun. I had my teammates backing me up out there and I think we play really well together. I was a little nervous at the beginning of the game, but my teammates helped me get over the nerves."