By ISU Sports Information
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Illinois State softball team snapped a seven-game losing streak with a pair of wins Friday afternoon at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Fla. The Redbirds beat Florida A&M, 4-3, in nine innings before defeating Florida International, 8-4.
The wins move ISU to 5-12 on the season and 2-1 on the weekend. It’s the first time this season that the Redbirds have won two games in a row.
Game 1: Illinois State 4 – Florida A&M 3 (9 innings)
Regan Romshek did it all in ISU’s 4-3 win over Florida A&M as the senior pitched all nine innings and drove in two runs at the plate. Romshek pitched a scoreless first inning and then put ISU on the board in the bottom of the inning with a solo home run. The homer was Romshek’s first of the season.
In the top of the second, Romshek ran into trouble for one of the only times in the ball game. After a walk and a double with one out in the inning, Denise Anderson hit a sacrifice fly that scored a run. Nachelle Watson followed with a single of her own, which gave FAMU the lead, 2-1.
Romshek worked out of the inning and then started a streak of 16-straight retired hitters that spanned from the third inning to the eighth inning. During that time, ISU’s offense was able to tie the game in the bottom of the fifth inning.
After Kaitlyn Knary singled to lead off the inning, Annie Heineman laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Knary into scoring position. Two batters later, Romshek singled to score Knary and tie the game at two.
Romshek made sure A&M would not threaten to take back the lead in the sixth and the seventh, but the Redbirds seemed poise to win the game in the bottom of the seventh. Knary drew a walk with one out and advanced to third on a throwing error after stealing second. However, ISU was unable to get her home and the game needed extra innings.
Because of it being a tournament, both teams started extra innings with a runner at second base. In the eighth inning, both teams were able to score a run. In the ninth with the game tied 3-3, Romshek worked out of a jam to keep the game tied. FAMU had runners at second and third with no outs, but Romshek retired the next three batters to get out of the inning.
In the bottom of the ninth, Riley Strandgard started the inning at second base. Alex Caliva laid down a bunt and the throw to first was wild, which allowed Strandgard to score the winning run.
Romshek pitched nine innings and allowed six hits and two earned runs. She struck out eight and walked two on her way to her first win of the season. She also finished 2-for-4 at the plate with a home run, run scored and two RBIs.
Game 2: Illinois State 8 – Florida International 4
Florida International jumped out to an early lead against ISU starter Sarah Finck. The Panthers scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning to take a 2-0 lead and the Redbirds were unable to score in the first three innings.
FIU tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the third inning, which knocked Finck out of the game after 2.1 innings. The sophomore allowed six hits and three earned runs while striking out one and walking one.
In the fourth inning, the middle and bottom of the ISU lineup led a comeback attempt to tie the game at four. Jordan de los Reyes, Payton Billups and Strandgard all singled to start the inning and load the bases. Lauren Prader then hit a sacrifice fly to get ISU on the board. Caliva came to the plate next and doubled to leftfield, which brought in two more runs. Down by one, Abby Turczyn singled down the leftfield line to score Caliva, which tied the game at four.
Ali Domkuski entered to pitch in relief and threw 4.2 innings of scoreless ball, allowing just four hits. The Redbird offense tacked on one run in the sixth thanks to an RBI double from Strandgard, and ISU scored three more runs in the top of the seventh. Strandgard came up big once again, driving in one of the runs with another double.
Billups and Strandgard each finished 3-for-4. Billups scored two runs while Strandgard scored one run and drove in two others. Domkuski picked up the win in the circle, which was the first of her collegiate career.
