by Nathan Baliva
The Monmouth College softball team lost a pair of Midwest Conference games at Cornell on Wednesday 6-2 and 5-4. The Fighting Scots (13-21, 6-6) led game two 4-2 with two outs in the seventh before being walked off 5-4 and are now one game behind the Rams (19-11, 7-5) for fourth place in the standings.
GAME ONE
Karliegh Ashby (Monmouth, Illinois) led off with a walk and scored from second on a single by Savannah Powers (Volo, Illinois). Powers was out at second on the hit but the Scots led 1-0 after a half inning. Alyssa Hefflefinger (Olin, Iowa) stranded a Rams runner at second base as she finished the first inning with a strikeout.
The Scots kept the 1-0 lead until the fourth. Cornell led off with a double and tied the game on a single. Another single put runners on the corners before a stolen base. The Rams took the lead on a RBI groundout and made it 3-1 with a single.
Elizabeth Waymire (Havana, Illinois) reached second on an error to start the fifth and she moved to third on a wild pitch. Ashby grounded out and Waymire scored to cut the Rams lead to 3-2.
Cornell responded with three in the fifth to extend the lead. Consecutive one-out doubles made it 4-2 before a sac fly added a run. A 2-out single added another run for a 6-2 Rams lead.
The Scots went in order in the sixth and still trailed 6-2 when Maddie Hepner (Alexis, Illinois) singled with one out in the seventh. Cornell retired the next two batters to end the game.
Hefflefinger (4-8) took the loss with six runs allowed on nine hits over five innings as she struck out two. Lydia Overcash (Farmington, Illinois) threw a shutout inning with two hits allowed.
GAME TWO
After a scoreless first inning, Mackenzie Gerard (Jacksonville, Illinois) led off the top of the second with a double. Graci Guenther (Pekin, Illinois) put the Scots on top with a double but she was left in scoring position. Cornell tied the game in the bottom of the inning against Overcash with three straight 2-out hits.
Ashby led off the third with a single and Powers singled with one out. Gerard was hit by a pitch and Brooklyn Millhollin (Peoria, Illinois) cleared the bases with a double for a 4-1 Monmouth lead.
A triple and sacrifice fly in the bottom of the third cut the Scots lead to 4-2. Neither team threatened in the fourth or fifth. Cornell put a runner on in the sixth against reliever Elizabeth Durfee (Arlington, Washington),.but a double play ended the inning.
The Rams led off the seventh with a single to bring the tying run to the plate. Durfee got a strikeout and a flyout before a single put two runners on base. Down to their last out, Cornell tied the game with a triple and won it with an infield single.
Durfee (4-6) took the loss, allowing three runs on six hits over 3 2/3 innings while striking out two. Overcash allowed two runs on five hits over three innings in a no-decision.
MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Powers had a hit in both games … Ashby scored in both games … Millhollin had her fourth multi-RBI game of the season … She is second on the team in doubles (8) and RBI (23) … Powers leads the team with 26 RBI, one away from being in the top 10 in a season … The series is tied 42-42 all-time but Cornell has won eight in a row dating back to a Monmouth DH sweep on May 1, 2022 … The Scots last won in Mount Vernon on March, 31, 2019 … The Scots host Grinnell for a Noon DH on Saturday … Saturday is also Senior Day.
