CLERMONT, Fla. - The Elmhurst softball team split a pair of games against top-10 opponents at the Spring Games in Florida. The Bluejays opened the day with a 2-1 win over #9 Wisconsin-Whitewater before falling 6-2 to #5 Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Elmhurst improved to 3-2 on the it's road trip and upped its overall record to 3-4.
ELMHURST 2, UW-WHITEWATER 1 - Emily Despain pitched over six innings as the Bluejays edged ninth-ranked Wisconsin-Whitewater 2-1 in a pitcher's dual.
The Bluejays broke open a scoreless game in the bottom of the sixth. Elmhurst manufactured two runs with two outs and the bases empty.
Veronica Zahn singled and scored on
Val Perrelli's RBI double to left.
Rebekah Ondracek followed with a double to drive in Perrelli and put the Bluejays up 2-0 after six.
The Warhawks scored a run in the top of the seventh on Meg Cohr's one-out RBI single. Ondracek gunned down pinch runner Jon'nah Williams attempting to steal second and
Sydni Gizynski struck out Mattie Klingenmeyer to end the game.
Despain pitched 6.1 innings, allowing just four hits and one run. She fanned two while not issuing a walk. Despain improved to 2-1 on the season while Gizynski recorded her first save.
MIT 6, ELMHURST 2- Elmhurst slipped to 1-1 on the day, after suffering a 6-2 loss to fifth-ranked MIT.
MIT scored a run in the fourth to break a scoreless tie. MIT added three runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth on a Devon Goetz two-run homer.
Elmhurst made things interesting in the seventh.
Mia Tran singled home a run and Zahn followed with an RBI single to make the score 6-2. The Bluejays had the tying run in the on deck circle, but a line-out double play ended the game.
Elmhurst finished with 10 hits, but the Bluejays left seven runners on base. Tran and Zahn recorded three hits apiece to pace the Bluejays while
Jackie Orel collected two hits for Elmhurst.
Gizynski made the start in the circle and took the loss, allowing seven hits and three in runs in four innings of work.
Bailee Krantz pitched the final two frames, surrendering four hits and three runs.
Elmhurst takes on Union and Buffallo State on Sunday, March 24.