CLEARWATER, Fla. – Indiana State won a hard-fought game against Monmouth (6-5) before falling against a quality Army (7-0) team to close out ISU's Spring Break trip to Florida on Wednesday morning.
 
The Sycamores rode a sixth-inning rally to a 6-5 win over Monmouth in the opener after falling behind on a pair of two-out, two-run homers. ISU only managed four hits in the finale against Army, who scored seven runs on seven hits to improve to 14-7 on the season.
 
Today wraps up ISU's weeklong stay in Clearwater, which began with the USF Under Armour Showcase last Friday (March 10). In total, Indiana State finished up 5-3 on its trip after going 4-1 in the Showcase and 1-2 in the three games since.
 
Overall, Indiana State stands at 13-9 heading into its first conference matchup of the season against Illinois State at home on Friday and Saturday. At 13-9, the Sycamores are currently in the midst of their best start in 22 games since 2014 (14-8).
 
First pitch against Illinois State on Friday will be at 4 p.m. back in Terre Haute. Saturday's doubleheader can be watched live on The Valley on ESPN3.
 
Game One:
Indiana State (13-8), 6
Monmouth (2-11), 5
WP: Kenzie Ihle (10-5)
LP: Amanda Riley (2-7)
SV: Della Gher (4)
 
Monmouth took early control of this game thanks to some clutch two-out hitting, but the Sycamores put up a four-spot in the sixth and freshman Della Gher once again shut the door for the 6-5 victory on a cold, windy morning in Clearwater.
 
Despite giving up a pair of deep two-out, two-run round trippers, starter Kenzie Ihle pitched a gem to keep the Sycamores in the game and improve her record to 10-5 on the season. In 5.2 innings pitched, Ihle fanned a near-season high seven batters.
 
The first of those Monmouth homers came in the bottom of the first, when catcher Alex Holzman launched a two-run shot to deep left center. Ihle settled in though, and didn't allow another run until the bottom of the fifth when first baseman Justine Reyes sent a two-run dinger deep over the left field fence herself.
 
The Sycamores put up one in the third on an RBI groundout by Brooke Mann (2-3, 2 RBI, BB) and one in the top half of the fifth on a Brooke Riemenschneider (1-3, 2B, RBI, SF) sacrifice fly, so after five the score was 4-1 in Monmouth's advantage. However, it would be the top of the sixth when the Sycamore offense erupted to take the lead.
 
Senior Kassie Brown (2-4) started the inning off with a bunt single, which was followed by consecutive errors by Monmouth's pitcher to load the bases for freshman Becky Malchow (2-4, 2B, 2 RBI), who drove in two on a ground-rule double smashed into the right-center gap to tie the game 4-4. Mann drove one in immediately after on an RBI single to centerfield to give ISU the lead. ISU's final run of the inning came on a wild pitch to score Malchow from third.
 
Monmouth began to rally on Ihle, scoring one and forcing her out of the game with the bases loaded after 115 pitches. Freshman Della Gher came on and immediately got out of the jam on her first pitch with a groundball to shortstop, setting the stage for a quick seventh inning for her fourth save of the season – the most saves in the Valley currently.
 
Game Two:
Army (14-7), 7
Indiana State (13-9), 0
WP: Caroline Smith (4-2)
LP: Kylie Stober (1-4)
 
Unlike the morning contest, the Sycamore offense never awoke in a flurry, only mustering four hits in a 7-0 loss to Army.
 
West Point starting pitcher Caroline Smith pitched a complete game shutout without striking out a single Sycamore, instead relying on her superb infield on 16 ground-ball outs.
 
Of those four hits, senior Brooke Riemenschneider claimed three of them. Entering the day she held a season average of .286 and left with a .341 clip after going 4-for-6 across both games.
 
Army jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first three innings against starter Kylie Stober, who fell to 1-4 on the season with the loss despite some solid movement and two strikeouts on the day. Army added two more in the bottom of the sixth on reliever Della Gher, who pitched one inning in relief but did not allow an earned run – maintaining her road trip ERA at 0.78.
 
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.