By Nick Gordon, Leatherneck Athletic Communications

MACOMB, IL -  The Western Illinois Softball team (7-17, 2-5 OVC) split its doubleheader on Saturday afternoon against Morehead State. The Leathernecks went 10 innings in game two and picked up a 10-9 victory on a walk-off RBI single from Kam Utendorf. Libby Spaulding added her fifth win of the season, pitching the entire game for the Leathernecks, to go along with 6 strikeouts.

Game 1: Western Illinois 5, Morehead State 7
The Eagles struck first in the opening inning with an RBI double, but the Leathernecks responded in the bottom half, drawing a bases-loaded walk from Maria Luna to tie the game at 1-1. After Morehead State retook the lead in the third, Western Illinois answered with an RBI triple from Ruby Tarr and an RBI from Sophia Sanchez to even the score at 3-3.

Morehead State would go on to extend its lead to 7-3 going into the bottom of the 7th. Western would add on two more from a Homerun by Maria Luna before ultimately falling 7-5. 

Game 2: Western Illinois 10, Morehead State 9 (10 innings)
The second matchup was one for the ages, with Western and Morehead State going 10 innings in the back-and-forth contest. The Eagles took the lead early in the 1st from a home run by Sela Pickford and an RBI single from Jordan Donato to put them ahead 3-0.

The Leathernecks would score their next two runs from Ruby Tarr who added a sacrifice fly in the 1st to go along with an RBI Single in the 3rd to score Payton Brown. The scoring for the Leathernecks continued into the 5th, where they scored 5 runs, and into the 6th, where they added 2 more to go ahead 9-5.

The Eagles rallied in the 7th inning, where they scored 4 runs of their own to even the score at 9-9 going into extra innings. Pitching from both sides locked down in extra innings until Kam Utendorf walked off the win for the Leathernecks with an RBI single with some help from excellent base running from Addie McLaughlin. 

The Leathernecks will look to win their first conference series in tomorrow's matchup.

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