Findlay Sweeps Opening Day in Rosemont
Box Score Game 1 (vs Upper Iowa)
Box Score Game 2 (vs Illinois-Springfield)
Rosemont, Ill. – The University of Findlay softball team opened up their season in Rosemont, Illinois, just outside of Chicago, on Friday, Feb. 19 with a pair of games in the Lewis Dome Invitational. The Oilers won both games to start the year 2-0, defeating the University of Upper Iowa by a score of 3-1 and later picking up a regional win over the University of Illinois-Springfield by a score of 4-3.
The Oilers fell behind in the opener against Upper Iowa, allowing a single run in the second inning while not recording a hit of their own until the third.
In the top of the fourth, senior Megan Fisher hit a leadoff double and advanced on a groundout by junior transfer Lexie Hilling. Junior Lyndsey Seamon then lifted a ball to center field, allowing Fisher to score which tied the game at 1-1.
Two innings later, the same part of the batting order came through. Seamon reached on a two-out single and was followed by junior Kyla Snow who reached on an error. The two then scored on a single by freshman Avery Shepherd, giving the Oilers a 3-1 lead.
Fisher would finish the game in the circle without allowing another run to give the Oilers the season-opening win. She threw a complete game for Findlay and struck out seven batters while allowing just two hits and one run, which was unearned.
In the second contest, the Oilers again fell behind, allowing a single run in the top of the first inning by the Illinois-Springfield Prairie Stars, but the Orange and Black answered in a big way in their half of the inning.
Fisher singled to lead off the inning and after a lineout, back-to-back singles by Seamon and senior Devyn Zuro loaded the bases. Freshman Emma Bode, in her first collegiate at-bat, laced a bases-clearing double to give Findlay a 3-1 lead.
UIS did not go quietly as they would pick up single runs in the second and third innings to tie the game, but the Oilers would take the lead for good in the bottom half of the third.
Zuro lead the inning off with a walk and was pinch run for by Makayla Cowan. Cowan came around to score when Bode picked up her second double of the game, giving the Oilers a 4-3 lead, the eventual final score.
The Prairie Stars had just one hit the remainder of the game as Findlay would pick up the sweep on opening day.
Junior Lexie Hilling picked up the win in the circle for Findlay as she tossed a complete game, five-hitter. She allowed just three runs, two earned, walked two, and struck out five.
Megan Fisher finished the day with three hits and two runs scored on the day while Seamon and Zuro had a pair of singles and an RBI, each.
Freshman Emma Bode had a monster game in her debut for Findlay against UIS, going 2-for-3 at the plate with a pair of doubles and four runs batted in.
The Oilers continue their trip in Rosemont with games against former Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) foes Ferris State and Saginaw Valley State on Saturday, Feb. 20.