LOUISVILLE – Indiana State Softball held on for a 3-2 victory over Bowling Green before falling 14-6 to Louisville in five innings at Day One of Louisville's Red & Black Tournament.
 
Pitching was the key in Game One vs. Bowling Green, as Kenzie Ihle pitched 6.1 scoreless before the Falcons started to mount a comeback that Ihle was able to stifle. The Sycamores broke out the bats a bit in the afternoon game vs. Louisville and took the lead at one point at 6-5, but the Cardinals – a 2016 NCAA qualifying team and preseason ACC No. 2 squad – took control and rode a rally to the 14-6 run-rule.
 
Indiana State will pick back up at 10 a.m. tomorrow morning vs. Wisconsin-Green Bay, followed by a rematch with Bowling Green at 5:30. The Sycamores will wrap up with another rematch with Louisville on Sunday at 12:30.
 
Game One:
Indiana State (6-4), 3
Bowling Green (6-9), 2
WP: Kenzie Ihle (5-2)
LP: Brooke Parker (0-2)
 
Junior pitcher Kenzie Ihle threw a magnificent game in the morning opener vs. Bowling Green, a continuation of a strong string of outings for the NJCAA All-American transfer. Ihle threw a complete game for the victory to improve to 5-2 on the season, throwing 6.1 scoreless and only allowing three hits in that span before a BGSU rally made things interesting in the seventh inning.
 
The Sycamores had scored all three of their runs two innings earlier with two outs in the fifth on a two-run single by Erika Crissman (1-2, 2 RBI) and an RBI single  to center field by Rylee Holland (2-3, RBI), and the Falcons nearly matched that in the final frame of the game.
 
Ihle got a foul-out to start the inning before yielded a single, a double, an RBI double, a sacrifice fly and finally, a flyout to Crissman in left field to end the game with the tying run on third base.
 
Game Two (Five Innings):
Louisville (9-6), 14
Indiana State (6-5), 6
WP: Maryssa Becker (7-4)
LP: Kylie Stober (1-3)
 
The afternoon game against Louisville was a wild up-and-down affair in what turned out to be a long five-inning game.
 
The Sycamores struck first with a double-steal in the top of the first inning, with Becky Malchow (2-2, SAC, RBI) stealing second while fellow freshman Leslie Sims (1-3) swiped home for the 1-0 lead.
 
The Cardinals – who knocked in 14 hits on the day – responded with two RBI singles in the bottom of the first and three more runs in the second inning to take a 5-1 lead. A Rylee Holland (2-2, SAC) single and UL throwing error scored Erika Crissman (2-3, 2 RBI) in the third inning before a big Sycamore rally in the fourth to take a brief lead.
 
In the fourth, a Kassie Brown (1-3) RBI bunt single got the action started. Crissman followed with her second two-RBI single of the day into right field, and Malchow topped it off with an RBI single of her own to give the Sycamores a 6-5 lead.
 
It was short-lived, though, as Louisville put up five in the fourth and four in the fifth, ending the game on a two-run round-tripper on the run-rule. For the Cardinals, a total of 11 of their runs came courtesy of Nicole Pufahl (4-4, 2B, 7 RBI) and Tiarra Sanabria (3-4, 2B, HR, 4 RBI), with Sanabria hitting the game-winning shot.
 
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.