CLEARWATER, Fla. – Indiana State held on in a close game against Mount St. Mary's (5-4) before falling in extra innings in a high-scoring affair against Providence (15-11, 8 innings) on ISU's second day at USF's Under Armour Showcase.
 
Solid pitching led the way in the opener against Mount St. Mary's with Kenzie Ihle putting in a quality start for her eighth victory, and freshman Della Gher coming on to shut it down late for the second straight day for her second career save.
 
"I think we came out with good energy," said ISU head coach Shane Bouman. "We knew what we needed to accomplish and focused more on what we need to do on a daily basis to succeed. I was happy with the squad for the most part in that first game, but that's why we're down here. We're working on little things to improve our team for late in the year."
 
In the afternoon tilt vs. Providence, the Sycamore offense had a field day early on, jumping out to a 5-2 lead in the first inning. But, an eight-run fifth by Providence proved a big momentum swing for the Friars, who put up five in the eighth to seal the game.
 
"There's some little things defensively in that second game that clean up a lot," Bouman said. "Looking at pitching, looking at defense, looking at base running – there's stuff there that we could do better that ends the game in regulation."
 
"I'm proud that we're hanging in there," Bouman said. "We're still competing and we still have opportunities to win games when we're not playing good softball, and that says a lot about our team. Hopefully we'll keep improving and we'll be playing good softball by the time we get home."
 
The Sycamores (11-7) have just one game tomorrow vs. Holy Cross at 9 a.m. before a schedule off day. ISU will wrap up with one game vs. Cleveland State over in Clermont, Fla., on March 14 and a double-header against Monmouth and Army back here on March 15.
 
Game One:
Indiana State (11-6), 5
Mount St. Mary's (4-12), 4
WP: Kenzie Ihle (8-3)
LP: Sam Lichtner (2-4)
SV: Della Gher (2)
 
Indiana State was held to just two hits in the first three innings, but a solid starting effort our to Kenzie Ihle (8-3) helped keep the game quiet in time for the Sycamores to break the game open.
 
Ihle, who pitched 5.1 innings while allowing six total hits and three earned runs, allowed just one run to Mount St. Mary's in that span – a solo home run to Rachel Heinze (3-4, HR, RBI).
 
The Sycamores put one across in the fourth on a wild pitch that scored Becky Malchow (1-4, SB) before breaking the game open in the fifth.
 
Brooke Riemenschneider led the inning off with a walk, a Kassie Brown (2-3, SB) bunt single moved her to second and a double steal set the table for an infield RBI single by Bailey Martin (2-4, RBI, SB). Martin stole second uncontested and a Rylee Holland (1-3, SAC) infield single loaded the bases for Erika Crissman's (2-3, RBI, BB, SB) RBI walk.
 
The bases remained loaded for the red-hot Brooke Mann (1-2, 2 RBI SAC), who brought in two on a single down the left field line, making the score 5-1.
 
Mount St. Mary's started to assemble a comeback the next inning, though, forcing Ihle out of the game and Gher in after scoring two on a bases loaded walk and a sacrifice fly.
 
Gher allowed an RBI groundout in the seventh, but shut the door on Mount St. Mary's with the tying run on third base and the winning run at the plate.
 
Game Two (8 innings):
Providence (6-10), 15
Indiana State (11-7), 11
WP: Michaela Veneziali (1-1)
LP: Kenzie Ihle (8-4)
SV: Miranda Trinidad (1)
 
The afternoon game against Providence was a wild ride, culminating with 26 total runs on 27 total hits among the two teams as ISU fell, 15-11, in extra innings.
 
Providence jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first on an Indiana State error, but then the Sycamores blew up for five in the bottom half to give starting pitcher Della Gher a 5-2 cushion. Gher cruised after that first inning, pitching three scoreless to follow.
 
Providence seemingly took control of the game in the fifth, taking relief pitcher Kylie Stober for four runs on two hits. Stober ended up being charged seven of the eight runs scored once the inning was over, with Kenzie Ihle taking credit for the eighth. Ihle's second batter faced in the game ended with a three-run triple allowed to Paige Murly (3-5, 3B, 3 RBI).
 
With Providence up 10-5 after a demoralizing inning, the Sycamores showed some grit with a spectacular inning of their own in the bottom half and tied the game 10-10. Rylee Holland (2-5, RBI, SB) led it off with a single into left field before Shaye Barton (2-3, 3B, RBI, 2 BB, SB) hit a triple of her own to begin the rally.
 
An RBI bunt single by Kassie Brown (1-4, RBI) led into a two-run single by freshman Becky Malchow (2-6, 2 RBI) and another RBI single by Brooke Mann tied the game 10-10. Mann ended the game 4-for-5 with two RBI and ended the day a combined 5-for-7 with four RBI.
 
Kenzie Ihle kept the Friars at bay to force extras, but Providence scored five runs on two hits in the top of the eighth to take the lead for the final time at 15-10. Indiana State put one across on an RBI hit-by-pitch by Mary Turitto (1-2, 2 RBI, BB, SAC), but couldn't muster any more to fall 15-11.
 
For the latest information on the Sycamore Softball team, make sure to check out GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including Facebook and Twitter.