The Monmouth College softball team completed a perfect weekend with a pair of run-rule wins against Lawrence University on Sunday. With wins of 8-1 and 11-2 the Scots are now 5-1 in Midwest Conference play and have won five games in a row.
Lawrence scored first in the opener with a run against Abby Leber (Tremont, Illinois) with two outs in the top of the first. Leber struck out the next seven batters she faced and the offense went to work.
Madelyn Belville (Rushville, Illinois) singled, stole second and scored on a wild pitch to tie the game in the first. Grace Goodrich (Lake Villa, Illinois) doubled home a run in the second and the Scots plated four in the third. Makaylea Sepich (Mackinaw, Illinois) double home two and scored on a double by Allie Ramlo (Tremont, Illinois). Goodrich delivered a sacrifice fly for a 6-1 lead as Addison Riley (Illinois City, Illinois) scored.
In the fourth the Scots scored three times. Ramlo doubled home two and scored on a single by Sepich. With a 9-1 lead, Leber closed out the Vikings in the top of the fifth for the run-rule win. She struck out a career-high 11 and is the first Scots pitcher to strike out at least 11 batters in a game since 2018.
Lawrence took a 1-0 lead in game two when they stole home in the second inning. The Scots answered in the second as pinch-runner Kendall Lewis (Cambridge, Illinois) scored on a single by Biancha Luna (Monmouth, Illinois). Luna scored on an error and Alex Chamberlin (Canton, Illinois) hit a 2-run inside-the-park-home run for a 4-1 Monmouth lead.
Riley doubled home Ramlo for a 5-1 lead in the third and Jenna Pauley (Moline, Illinois) scored on an error. Chamberlin doubled home two more and the Scots lead 9-1 after the third.
Pauley doubled home Ramlo in the fourth and scored on a single by Riley. The Scots gave up a run top five on an error but clinched the run-rule win 11-2.
Pauley threw a complete game to earn the win, striking out four. The Scots have won nine straight against Lawrence dating back to 2016 and lead the all-time series 20-10. Monmouth is next in action with a Wednesday night double header at Augustana and they will host Eureka College at 1 p.m. Friday with a double header.
***Report Courtesy of Nathan Baliva, Monmouth College***
