URBANA, Ill. - Western Illinois saw its season come to a close in two hard-fought losses to in-state rival Illinois on Saturday, May 7.
The Fighting Leathernecks (19-27) took an early lead in the first game of the doubleheader, but the Fighting Illini (26-21) held Western scoreless for a combined 13.0 innings to pick up two wins.
Game One - Illinois 3, Western Illinois 2
Western Illinois struck for two runs in the top of the first inning but Illinois rallied behind a strong pitching performance from Pepper Gay in the first game on Saturday.
The Leathernecks scored the first run of the contest on Erin Schlotfeldt's two-out double to left center and would plate another run when Beth Golitko singled to center in the next at bat.
Illinois rallied to tie the game with a triple and a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the second and plated the game-winning run on an RBI single in the third.
Neither team would muster much offense in what ended up being the first of two pitchers' duels. The teams combined for just 10 hits in the first game.
Gay (19-13) picked up the win after tossing 4.2 scoreless innings in relief. She struck out six and walked one without surrendering a hit.
Hailey Bickford (9-11) allowed three runs on six hits in the loss. She walked two and struck out two while finishing 1-for-2 at the plate.
Illinois recorded six hits to Western's four and each team committed one error in the game. Both squads left four runners on base.
Game Two - Illinois 2, Western Illinois 0
Pepper Gay picked up her second win of the day as she held the Leathernecks to just two hits in a complete-game shutout in Saturday's finale.
Illinois took a one-run lead with a leadoff homer in the second and tacked on a second run with a sacrifice fly in the sixth.
Western Illinois threatened to score in the fifth inning when it loaded the bases with two outs, but a force-out at home and a strikeout would end the inning.
Gay finished the game with seven strikeouts and issued four walks as she kept the Leathernecks scoreless for a combined 11.2 innings on Saturday.
Bickford suffered her second loss of the day despite allowing just two runs on five hits. She walked one and struck out one batter.
Golitko and Colleen Biebel recorded Western's only hits of the contest as the Leathernecks stranded six runners on base. Illinois left three runners on and both teams were perfect in the field.
