DePaul Box Score

Illinois Box Score

CLEARWATER, FL-The Winthrop softball team dropped two games on the second day of the NFCA Leadoff Classic with a 10-0 loss in six innings to DePaul followed by a 3-2 loss to the University of Illinois.

With the losses on Saturday afternoon, the Eagles fall to 5-7 on the year. DePaul and the Illini improve 9-4 and 5-6 respectively.

In the opening game of the day for Winthrop, it was a group effort by the Eagles' pitching staff to try to stop the bats of the Blue Demons. Chelsey Schoenfeldt started the game and held the Blue Demons scoreless in the 1^st inning but soon ran into trouble. She gave up two runs on five hits in the 2^nd inning and was replaced by Sutton Watson, who came into the game with the bases loaded, with one out in the 3^rd inning. Watson got out of the inning allowing only two runs as DePaul now led 4-0 in the top of the 3^rd inning.

The Blue Demons added two more runs in the 4^th inning on a double by Megan Corondo. In the top of the 5^th inning, Watson was replaced by Sara Allen. Allen only gave up one hit in her first inning of action of the day but struggled in the 6^th inning. She allowed four runs on four hits, making the score 10-0 which ended the game in six innings.

The offense couldn't seem to get anything started against Depaul's pitcher, Junior Bree Brown. The Eagles only hit of the game came from a bunt by leadoff hitter Megan Chapman.

“This was a tough game,” said head coach Mark Cooke following the loss to DePaul. “They hit the ball hard and are an excellent ball club. We came down here to play that kind of competition so that we can get better and we are improving.”

In the second game of the day, the Eagles bats seemed to warm up after Jenna Harbin and Chapman combined to get the Eagles on the scoreboard first in the top of the 3^rd inning. Harbin doubled down the left field line and advanced to third on an error. She scored on an infield single by Chapman.

The Illini answered immediately in the bottom half of the 3^rd with a run off hits by Danielle Vaji and Kelley Wedel and they didn't stop there. They took the lead in the bottom of the 4^th inning. Meredith Hackett led off the inning with a single up the middle and was replaced by Nikki Simpson on the bases. Simpson scored on a single to left by Jenna Mychko. Jami Schkade pinch ran for Mychko and scored what would be the winning run after a single to right field, a wild pitch from pitcher Natalie Becker, and then an error by third baseman Alex White.

The Eagles battled back in the top of the 6^th with a big solo home run by Kathryn Eberlin. The one-out blast was her 2^nd on the year and put the Eagles within one run of the Illini.

Natalie Becker threw the complete game for the Eagles. In 6 innings pitched, she gave up seven hits, only two earned runs, no walks and recorded two strikeouts.

After the Illinois game, Cooke said it was a game that either team could have won. “We hung with Illinois in the second game and it could have gone either way. The girls really played a good game. Mistakes are magnified against good teams but I think we'll get to where we need to be for the conference season. We are looking forward to the game tomorrow against another ranked team.”

The Eagles last game of the weekend will be tomorrow at 10 a.m. against 17^th-ranked Louisiana-Lafayette.