NORMAL, Ill. – Indiana State softball split a doubleheader against Illinois State on Sunday at Marian-Kneer Stadium which gave the Redbirds the series victory.

The Sycamores (17-14, 5-4) won game one of the day 5-4 while the Redbirds took the series finale 5-3 to take two of out three over the weekend.

Game One
Indiana State took the first game of the doubleheader, winning 5-4 powered by four RBIs from Isabella Henning.

The Redbirds had an early lead, going up 1-0 on an RBI single to right center.

The Sycamores answered with four runs in the third to take a 4-1 lead. Bella Peterson drove in the first run with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly which scored Grace Hunger.

Isabella Henning followed that up with a three-run home run over the wall in left field to score Abi Chipps and Olivia Patton. The home run was Henning's fourth of the season and second of the weekend.

Henning picked up her fourth RBI of the afternoon with a bases-loaded walk in the top of the fourth to put the Sycamores up 5-1.

Illinois State put up three runs of their own in the fourth to make it a 5-4 ballgame. A sycamore throwing error allowed a run to score follow by an RBI single and an RBI groundout to cap the scoring for the Redbirds in the frame.

Both teams went 1-2-3 in the final three innings of the contest to give the Sycamores a 5-4 victory. Lexi Benko went the distance for Indiana State, striking out six batters while allowing two earned runs on six hits across her seven innings of work. She improves to 8-7 on the season with the win.

At the plate, Indiana State recorded three hits while the Redbirds had six. Henning finished 2-for-2 while Amanda Guercio had the other hit for the Sycamores.

The win snapped an eight-game losing streak against Illinois State.

Game Two
The series finale was a wire-to-wire win for Illinois State. The 5-3 win gave the Redbirds the series victory.

Illinois State hit a two-run home run in the second inning and a solo shot in the third to take a 3-0 lead.

The Sycamores got back-to-back home runs from Bella Peterson and Cassie Thomerson to lead off the fourth to put Indiana State within one.

The Redbirds got two more runs in the bottom half of the fourth on Delainey Bryant's second home run of the game to make it a 5-2 Illinois State lead.

Hailey Griffin worked 1-2-3 innings in the fifth and sixth to bring the Sycamores to the plate in the top of the seventh where they would put pressure on the Redbirds.

Lexie Siwek drew a leadoff walk followed by a double from Annie Tokarek to put runners on second and third. Olivia Patton reached on an error to load the bases for Abi Chipps who drove in a run with an RBI single to make it a 5-3 game.

The Redbirds were able to get out of the jam and leave the bases loaded to hold on for a 5-3 win to claim the series.

Indiana State finished with six hits, getting multi-hit performances from Chipps and Tokarek. Illinois State had five hits on the afternoon.

Cassi Newbanks got the start and went two innings, allowing three runs on three hits while striking out two. Hailey Griffin threw four innings in relief, giving up two runs while striking out four hitters.

Around the Horn
Bella Peterson moved to number one all-time for at-bats in a career at Indiana State. She now has 614 for her career.

Up Next
Indiana State will host Butler on Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET at Price Field and then head back on the road for a three-game series against Missouri State in Springfield beginning on Saturday.

For the latest information on Sycamore Softball, be sure to visit GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.