Skip To Main Content

Upcoming Events and Recent Results

Western Illinois University Athletics

price
St. Thomas Athletics
9
Winner Western Illinois WIU 8-26, 2-6 Summit
6
South Dakota USD 18-18, 7-3 Summit
Winner
Western Illinois WIU
8-26, 2-6 Summit
9
Final
6
South Dakota USD
18-18, 7-3 Summit
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 R H E
Western Illinois WIU 0 2 2 1 0 0 1 3 9 18 1
South Dakota USD 0 0 0 4 2 0 0 0 6 10 2

W: Price, Emily (4-10) L: Kynlee Marquez (1-2)

2
Western Illinois WIU 8-27, 2-7 Summit
10
Winner South Dakota USD 19-18, 8-3 Summit
Western Illinois WIU
8-27, 2-7 Summit
2
Final
10
South Dakota USD
19-18, 8-3 Summit
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 R H E
Western Illinois WIU 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 7 2
South Dakota USD 1 0 0 0 3 6 10 13 0

W: Clara Edwards (12-7) L: Price, Emily (4-11)

Game Recap: Softball | | WIU Athletic Communications

WIU Softball Splits Sunday Matchups

Leathernecks defeated South Dakota, 9-6, in a continuation of Saturday's second game before falling in the series finale.

VERMILLION, S.D. – Western Illinois softball concluded its weekend series against the South Dakota Coyotes on Sunday (April 16), defeating the opponents 9-6 in a continuation from Saturday's game before falling 10-2 in the series finale. The Leathernecks are set to host four games this week, which concludes with senior day on Sunday (April 23).
 
Game two: WIU 9, USD 6 (F/8)
WIU responded quickly to the hitting struggles in game one, recording two hits in the first three at-bats of game two and coming off the bats of Gabriela Drager and Maria Luna. That momentum carried into the second, when Kaylee Ketcherside singled and Cynthia Hull walked to open the inning before advancing into scoring position thanks to a Jorja Hudson sacrifice bunt. After Malorie Gill sent an 0-1 pitch down the line in left, Hull and Ketcherside scored to put the Leathernecks ahead 2-0 early in the game.
 
The hot hitting continued into the third inning, with Gill hitting yet another RBI single to score Georgia Rea. In the next at bat, with the bases loaded, Drager delivered with an RBI single of her own to extend Western's lead; Rea would hit an RBI triple in the fourth to build a 5-0 Western Illinois lead.
 
South Dakota would fight back, however, as the Coyotes put four runs on the board in the bottom of the fourth and two in the bottom of the fifth to turn a 5-4 deficit into a 6-5 advantage.
 
WIU put runners in scoring position in the sixth inning and then tied the game in the seventh, as Bella Alvarez singled through the right side to score Gill who was standing on third base. After holding the Coyotes scoreless in the bottom half of the inning, the game was headed to extra innings but was called due to darkness.
 
After resuming play Sunday morning, Western tacked on another three runs with quality hitting in the top of the eighth inning. Georgia Rea led the inning off with a triple to right and scored on the next at bat before Jorja Hudson hit a sacrifice fly that scored Kaylee Ketcherside. Malorie Gill hit another sacrifice fly later in the inning to build a 9-6 advantage heading into the bottom half of the inning. Emily Price closed the game out and earned her fourth win of the 2023 season. 
 
Seven Leathernecks recorded multi-hit games as Malorie Gill (3-4, four RBI), Kaylee Ketcherside (3-5, one RBI), Gabriela Drager (2-4, one RBI), Bella Alvarez (2-5, one RBI), Maria Luna (2-5), Savannah Rodriguez (2-5) and Georgia Rea (2-5, two triples) combined with Cynthia Hull and Jorja Hudson for 18 total hits across 41 plate appearances.
 
Rodriguez started in the circle on Saturday and allowed six hits and four runs (three earned) while striking out two across the first four innings, and Sophia Honse pitched the next 0.2 innings while giving up two hits. Emily Price came on in relief with two outs in the fourth and finished with five strikeouts across 3.1 scoreless innings of work.
 
Western's performance at the plate in game two proved to be the best during head coach Alisa Goler's three seasons at the helm, as the team's 18 hits is the most by a Western Illinois offense since she was hired ahead of the 2021 season. The program record for hits in a single game is 27, set in April of 1992, and the 18 hits is tied for seventh-most in a single game in program history. The last time Western recorded 18 hits in a single game was against Green Bay on March 7, 2015.
 
Game three: Coyotes 10, Leathernecks 2
WIU's hot hitting continued as the team wasted no time in the series finale, scoring a run on the fourth at bat of the game. Maria Luna singled with two down before Savannah Rodriguez hit a 3-2 pitch into right center for a double that would score Luna from first. The 'Yotes responded with a sacrifice fly in the bottom half of the inning and both teams were level, 1-1, after one.
 
Both teams remained scoreless until the fifth inning, when South Dakota hit a bases-loaded triple to take a 4-1 advantage. WIU quickly responded with a Cynthia Hull single to score Kaylee Ketcherside in the top of the sixth, cutting the deficit to just two, but USD's hot hitting continued in the sixth inning as the Coyotes scored six runs and ended the game at 10-2.
 
Maria Luna (2-3, two runs scored) and Savannah Rodriguez (2-3, one RBI) both had multi-hit games and combined with Hull, Abrianna Gracia and Piper Foote for seven total hits in 25 at bats. Bella Alvarez recorded a team-high seven putouts in the field while Gracia's four assists led the team. Price started and pitched five innings, allowing four runs (two earned) and seven hits with one strikeout, while Kathryn McChristy pitched the sixth inning.
 
Western Illinois softball heads home for the next four games, facing Iowa on Wednesday (April 19) before hosting UMKC next weekend in the final home series of the 2023 season. First pitch against the Roos is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday (April 22).
 
Print Friendly Version