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Western Illinois University Athletics

Emily Ira FP
WIU Visual Productions Center
3
Winner Western Illinois WIU 3-9
0
Alabama State ALST 3-8
Winner
Western Illinois WIU
3-9
3
Final
0
Alabama State ALST
3-8
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Western Illinois WIU 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 3 7 0
Alabama State ALST 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0

W: Ira, Emily (1-2) L: Bradford, V. (2-2)

5
Evansville UE 2-10
9
Winner Western Illinois WIU 4-9
Evansville UE
2-10
5
Final
9
Western Illinois WIU
4-9
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Evansville UE 1 0 0 0 3 1 0 5 4 1
Western Illinois WIU 1 0 0 6 0 2 X 9 13 0

W: Lotarski, Megan (2-3) L: Downing, A. (1-3)

Game Recap: Softball | | WIU Athletic Communications

WIU Blanks Alabama State, Beats Evansville In Day Two

Emily Ira recorded 15 strikeouts and an RBI in game one

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.- The Leathernecks posted a 2-0 record today halting an eight-game skid. The Leathernecks blanked Alabama State, 3-0, behind a dominant performance from Emily Ira. The Leathernecks bats carried them to a game two victory, as Western Illinois beat Evansville 9-5.
 
"We had two great team wins today. We wanted to come out and work on the process and the little things, so the outcome will take care of itself and we did just that," said head coach Beth Golitko. "Emily had a phenomenal game in the circle the first game with a solid defense behind her. The bats came alive right when they needed to, to manufacture runs."
 
GAME ONE
 
Ira etched her name in the Western Illinois' record book on Saturday morning as she struck out 15 batters to lead the Purple and Gold to the 3-0 victory. She now ranks second in program history in strikeouts in a single game. She was dominant from the beginning of the contest as she struck out six consecutive batters through the second and third innings.
 
With the game knotted at 0-0, Kelsey Marlow led off the fifth inning with a single up the middle. Marlow was out at second on a fielder's choice play as Rachel Beatty reached first. Beatty was moved to second as Jasmine Lara grounded to third and advanced to third base on a wild pitch. With two out in the fifth inning, Payton Abbott hit a ball to the right-center gap to score Beatty.
 
After the first two Leathernecks went down in the sixth inning, Brooke Stulga tripled to right field to put a runner on the corner with two outs. Not only did Ira show her dominance in the circle on Saturday morning, she singled to left field to score Stulga to put the Leathernecks up 2-0.
 
The Leathernecks tacked on their final run of the ballgame in the seventh inning which was started by a Beatty, who drew a walk. After stealing second base, she advanced to third on a ground ball and scored after Abbott lined a ball to center field for a single.
 
Abbott turned an impressive game one, as she went 2-for-2 with a pair of RBIs. Lara went 2-for-4 on the day with a couple hits.
 
Ira finished the contest pitching seven innings, while only giving up two hits and zero walks.
 
GAME TWO
 
The bats came alive during the second game for the Leathernecks as they plated nine runs, their second-most of the season.
 
"The second game was great to see offensively and defensively. Megan and Payton did great keeping them off balance in the circle," said Golitko. "Offensively, we took advantage when we needed to and kept rallies going. We knew Evansville would come out strong so we had to keep pushing every inning."
 
Scoring came early for both sides in the contest, as each team got things going in the first inning. After Evansville hit a solo home run in the top of the first inning, the Leathernecks responded as Hailey Duwa singled up the middle, scoring Abbott to tie the game.
 
The fourth inning to prove to be the difference in the game for the Leathernecks, as the Purple and Gold scored six runs on six hits. Stulga got the inning started for the Leathernecks, singling to left field. With the bases loaded, Sidney Bottino singled up the middle, scoring Minyard and Stulga.
 
With one out, Lara picked up an RBI after a single to left field, pushing the Western Illinois lead to 5-1. With two runners on base, Duwa hit a line drive to left field that scored Lara. The Leathernecks batted around in the inning with Stulga driving in the final RBI of the inning on an infield single.
 
Evansville plated three fifth inning runs to pull within three runs, 7-4. The Leathernecks tacked on a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to extend the to 9-4 after Abbott scored on a Stulga fly out to left field. The final run of the game came off the bat of Minyard, as she singled through the right side to score Mia Croswell.
 
The Leathernecks look to win three-straight on Sunday morning against SEMO. First pitch is set for 11:30.
 
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