MURRAY, KY - Western Illinois started the 2024 Velvet Milkman Classic on Friday, taking on Toledo and Murray State. Western took a 10-6 loss in the opener against the Rockets, before beating Murray State 6-3.
Game one started with the Rockets taking an early 1-0 lead, getting a pair of hits with zero outs. Leatherneck starter
Emily Price forced three straight-outs to prevent the Rockets from doing more damage. Western got even in the bottom of the first, as
Malia Robertson reached on an error. She then stole second base and came home on a sacrifice fly from
Gabriela Drager to tie the game at one.
Price sent the Rockets back to the dugout in order in the second.
Sophia Sanchez got the Leathernecks their first hit of the game in the bottom of the frame. Two hits from
Abrianna Gracia and
Raven Morrison were unproductive, ending the inning by getting thrown out on the basepaths.
A nightmare third inning saw Toledo hit six doubles and score seven runs. Morrison came into pitch for Price with one out, and she finished the game for Western. Ending the inning with a score of 8-1, the Leathernecks got a pair of singles in the third inning but were unable to trim the deficit.
Toledo made it a 9-1 ballgame in the fifth inning, threatening to run-rule the Leathernecks. Western quickly loaded the bases thanks to a walk, hit-by-pitch, and a single.
Beth Pavy came in as a pinch-hitter and hit a double into left field that scored two runs.
Maria Luna followed Pavy as another pinch-hitter, and she hit a three-run home run that cut the deficit in half. Luna's homer was the first one that has gone over the fence all season for Western Illinois.
Going into the sixth inning down 6-9, Western forced three quick outs, before a no-hit bottom of the sixth moved the game to the seventh. Toledo got an insurance run in the seventh on a sacrifice fly. Western went down in order in the final frame to end the game at a score of 6-10. Morrison allowed two earned runs and five hits over four and two-thirds innings, and
Rylee Boone and
Sophia Sanchez finished the game with multiple hits.
In game two, Western Illinois took on the hosts, Murray State. Like in game one, Robertson started things off by getting on base and immediately stealing second. She scored to take a 1-0 lead on a
Bella Alvarez RBI single. Gracia singled in another run, Gab Drager, as the Leathernecks ended the first inning with two runs on four hits.
Lillie Wools shut down the Murray State lineup in order in the bottom of the first and did the same in the second. WIU added a run in the third when
Sophia Sanchez hit a double into right-center field that scored
Georgia Rea, making it a 3-0 ballgame.
Murray State got one back on a sac bunt, reducing the Leatherneck lead to two. After a 1-2-3 inning from the Western Illinois offense, Murray State equalized in the fourth, bringing the score to 3-3.
Gabriela Drager singled to start the fifth, and then a double from
Maria Luna brought Western Illinois closer to taking back the lead.
Sophia Sanchez and
Kayla DePoorter gave the Leathernecks a 5-3 advantage on a pair of singles, a lead they did not relinquish.
Emily Price was nails the rest of the way, shutting down the Murray State offense as she did not allow a run for the rest of the game.
Valerie Combs added an insurance run in the seventh with an RBI single, and Price shut down the Racers in the seventh, if not for a last-out review call that nearly extended the game, but ended in favor of the Leathernecks. Five Western Illinois players ended the game with multiple hits, as Robertson, Drager, Luna, Alvarez, and Sanchez all ended the game with a pair of hits. Price pitched three and two-thirds innings, only allowing three hits with no earned runs.
Western continues play at the Velvet Milkman Classic tomorrow when they take on Toledo at 9:00, followed by an 11:30 matchup with IUPUI.
