TERRE HAUTE, IN ? Not one, not two, but three is the number of homeruns that Meredith Simpson hit in a conference doubleheader against Northern Iowa this Saturday afternoon at Price Field. The Sycamores extend their winning streak to seven as they emerged victorious in both games 5-3 and 7-3 while Simpson continues to add to her record-breaking homerun total.
Game One
The Panthers of Northern Iowa would plate the first run of the game in the very first inning off an RBI-double from Stephanie Aguero but the Sycamores would score the next two. Sophomore Audrey Childress started off the second inning by hitting a single to centerfield and advanced to second thanks to a sacrifice-bunt from Kelsey Anderson. After advancing to third on a passed ball, Childress was brought home on a Christina Meyers RBI-single to right field to net the score at one run a piece.
The Sycamores scored a second run in the third inning after Simpson singled, reached third base on two sacrifice hits, and crossed home plate because of a Panther error.
UNI would try to make up for that error, scoring another single run in the fourth inning with a single by Morgan Paulson, a Kelly Papesh walk, and another single from Megan Machovec that drove in Paulson from second.
Simpson smacked her eighth homerun of the season to lead off the fifth inning and give Indiana State a 3-2 advantage. Another Panther run in the sixth inning tied the ballgame for the last time until Simpson, who has been unstoppable at the plate, hit a two-run walk-off homerun in the bottom of the seventh inning to give the Sycamores the 5-3 victory.
Meagan McCurdy (11-9) pitched her fifteenth complete game of the season, tallying her fifth straight win, and striking out nine batters while walking only one. Throughout the entire seven innings, only one Sycamore batter was struck out by the Panthers pitching staff.
Game Two
Once again, the Panthers would take the initial lead scoring a run in the first inning again by an RBI-double from Aguero.
The Sycamores would score the next three runs beginning in the bottom of the first when Simpson homered for the third time of the afternoon to tie the ballgame at 1-1. In the fourth inning, Reva LeDune reached first base on a wild pitch and Lindsey Starwalt singled to advance LeDune to second. LeDune was on base for a short period of time until Simpson came up huge once again and drove her home when she hit a deep double to left centerfield to put the Sycamores up by one. That was Simpson's 28th RBI of the season and she is now just four away from being Indiana State's all-time single-season RBI leader.
The fifth inning was started off by Childress who singled but was thrown out at second when Britt Boyer reached first on a fielder's choice. Sam Markowski sent Boyer home off a double to right field to increase the Sycamores' lead 3-1.
The Panthers rallied back in the sixth inning when they plated two runs to tie the game. A single by Rachel Gerking and a double by Crystal Keiper put two runners in scoring position for Paulson who came up to the plate and hit a single to send both runners home.
The Sycamores blew the game wide open tallying four runs on six hits in the bottom half of the sixth inning. Simpson, who went a staggering 6-8 with five runs and five RBI on the afternoon, started off the hot swinging by hitting a single to right field. After advancing to second when Christina Meyers grounded out to second, Simpson was sent home off of a deep single by Katie Iocoangeli. Katie Armour continued the hitting streak, knocking another single to right field to put runners on first and second. Childress, who went 4-7 with two runs and 3 RBI, stepped into the batter's box and smacked a three-run homerun over the left field fence to give the Sycamores a 7-3 victory.
Armour (3-8) received the win, throwing six innings with five strikeouts. McCurdy came into the game late, pitching one inning to finish off the Panthers and secure the seventh straight victory for Indiana State. The Sycamores' fifteen hits are the most they have registered in a single game this season. All but three players in the lineup tallied at least one hit in the second game.
The series finale against the Panthers will begin tomorrow at noon. It will be the final home game of the 2008 season for the softball team and the three seniors (Starwalt, Iocoangeli, and Anderson) will be recognized following the game.
Live video, audio, and stats will be available via GoSycamores.com.
