CHARLESTON, IL. - The Lindenwood Softball team (11-14, 2-4 OVC) dropped both contests to Eastern Illinois on Saturday by scores of 12-9 and 5-1 to drop to 2-4 overall in the Ohio Valley Conference Standings. The Lions collected 15 hits across the two games with five different players finishing the doubleheader with two hits.
GAME 1: Eastern Illinois 12, Lindenwood 9
Emily Geary started off the day with an RBI double down the right field line to drive in the first run of the game to immediately put the Lions in front 1-0.
Teryn Brown added on to that lead in the top of the second with an RBI single that scored
Karter Skillman.
Madisen Noll then added on to the lead with a two run opposite field home run to extend Lindenwood's lead to 4-0. In the fourth, the Lions added four more runs behind RBI singles from Noll,
Tori Hatton, and
Jolie McMinn to take a commanding 8-0 lead after 3.5 innings played. However, EIU scored five runs in the bottom of the fourth and put up seven runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a 12-8 lead. Lindneood got one run back in the top of the seventh to cut the deficit to 12-9, but EIU was able to hang on for the win in the first game of the doubleheader.
Freshman pitcher
Jalese Hays made her first career start in the circle and pitched the first 3.1 innings of the game. Hays tied her season-high with two strikeouts and allowed just one hit to keep the Panther offense in check early on in the game, but the Panthers were able to get to the bullpen in the later stages of the game.
GAME 2: Eastern Illinois 5, Lindenwood 1
EIU struck first in the bottom of the second inning to grab a 1-0 lead after two innings of play.
Tori Hatton evened the score in the top of the third on an RBI single that scored
Sadie Sexauer, but the Panthers scored the last four runs of the game in the third, fifth, and sixth innings to take a 5-1 lead and completed the sweep over the Lions in game two. The bright spot for the Lions in the second game was Sexauer, who collected her first two hits of her college career to lead Lindenwood offensively, and swiped two bags in the top of the fifth inning.
Ryleigh Owens and
Ava Risum combined to pitch 2.1 innings and allowed two runs and struck out one batter to limit the Panthers in the later stages of the game.
Lindenwood will now return home on Wednesday for a doubleheader with the Bradley Braves beginning at 3 p.m. CT with both games streamed on ESPN+.
