ROSEMONT, Ill. – No. 20 Indiana Wesleyan Softball finished out their NAIA Leadoff games on Saturday with two games against No. 14 Madonna University and William Penn University. IWU dropped both games, the first to Madonna 7-2, and the second to WPU 7-6 in walk-off fashion.
IWU faced a familiar foe in No. 14 Madonna who ended the Wildcats season last year in the NAIA Tournament. The Wildcats started the game with a 2-0 lead but were unable to gain anymore runs the rest of the way.
In game 2, IWU fell 7-6 to William Penn University in the 7th inning. WPU got up 2-0 after 2 innings, but the Wildcats scored 3 in the top of the 4th. The Statesman would tied it at 3 in the bottom of the 4th. Indiana Wesleyan came right back with 3 more runs in the 5th to take the 6-3 lead. However, William Penn would score 4 runs in the bottom of the 7th to complete their comeback. IWU gets another crack at WPU this season when they match up in Tucson, Arizona.
THE ESSENTIALS
- Location: Rosemont, Illinois / Rosemont Dome
- Records: IWU 1-3 I MU 5-0 | WPU 4-2
- Game One Score: MU def. IWU 7-2
- Game Two Score: WPU def. IWU 7-6
- NAIA Top-25 Rankings: IWU - #20 | MU - #14 | WPU - Unranked
GAME 1 HIGHLIGHTS
- Courtney Thomas reached base on a bunt single in the 1st inning and was brought home by a 2 run home run by Brylee Bilger for the first home run of the season for the Wildcats.
- However, Madonna would score 1 in the 2nd inning, 3 in the 3rd, 2 in the 5th, and a final run in the 6th to seal the victory for the Crusaders.
GAME 2 HIGHLIGHTS
- Game 2 was a scoring barrage. Wiliam Penn got it started with a run in the bottom of the 1st and another in the bottom of the 2nd.
- IWU responded with a Whitney Waddell single that scored Danica Fuller. Then, Brylee Bilger collected 2 more RBIs with a single that gave IWU the 3-2 lead in the top of the 4th.
- In their next go-around, Indiana Wesleyan scored 3 more runs when Fuller singled to score Leah May. Fuller would touch home after a bunt single for Sara Ruble, her first RBI of the season. The 3rd run of the inning came with a bases loaded walk drawn by B. Bilger. IWU now led 6-3 going into the 6th inning.
- The final half-inning of the game saw William Penn score 4 runs to overcome the deficit and beat IWU.
NEXT TIME OUT
- The Wildcats play at home on February 26th against Defiance College at 2:00 PM.
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