By ISU Sports Information.
NORMAL, Ill. – Regan Romshek earned a four-hit shutout victory in game one, but the Illinois State softball team fell in the nightcap Friday night against Drake at Marian Kneer Stadium. The Redbirds won game one, 1-0, but lost game two, 7-4. Illinois State (17-30, 9-12 MVC) and Drake will finish the series Saturday at noon.
Game 1: Illinois State 1 – Drake 0
Game one featured a pitcher’s duel between Regan Romshek and Drake’s Nicole Newman. Illinois State put a runner on in each of the first two innings, but left them stranded at first. Romshek worked a perfect first, and after allowing a leadoff single in the second, retired the next three batters.
Drake’s first real threat came in the top of the third when the Bulldogs put runners on first and second with two outs. However, Romshek induced a fly ball to left that was caught for the third out. In the bottom of the frame, Allison Spence hit the first pitch over the right-center field fence for her third home run of the season. The run would be the only one of the game.
The Bulldogs posed a threat again in the fourth, but were unable to push across a run. With one out in the frame, a passed ball got by Jordan de los Reyes. Drake’s Maddie Hooyman attempted to score from third, but de los Reyes hustled to the ball and flipped it back to Romshek covering the plate in time to get the tag down for out number two. With a runner at third, Romshek got a ground ball to second to end the inning.
The Redbirds left runners at second and third in both the fourth and fifth innings, and Newman recorded key strikeouts in each frame to get herself out of trouble. Romshek was strong the rest of the way, allowing only one hit in the final three innings.
Romshek pitched seven innings and allowed four hits, while striking out six and walking three. Five different Redbirds recorded a hit with Spence’s being the difference in the game. Newman struck out 10 across six innings, while allowing five hits and one earned run.
Game 2: Drake 7 – Illinois State 4
Game two was the opposite of game one as the offenses put runs on the board right from the start. Drake scored the first run of the game in the top of the first off of Sarah Finck. Kelsey Wright reached on a leadoff walk and scored on a Taryn Pena single.
The Redbirds answered back in the bottom of the frame after Romshek reached on a walk and Riley Strandgard launched a two-run home run to give ISU the lead. The home run was Strandgard’s fifth of the season and she finished a triple shy of the cycle.
Finck sat the Bulldogs down in order in the second, but allowed three unearned runs in the third. Pena drove in another run with an RBI single and Kailee Smith hit a two-RBI double to make it 4-2, Drake.
The Redbirds tacked on a run of their own in the bottom of the inning after Romshek led off with a double and de los Reyes drove her in with a single. ISU would leave the bases loaded in the inning and left eight on base in the game.
In the fourth inning, Finck led off with a single and later scored to tie the game on a Strandgard single. ISU had an opportunity to put more on the board, but left runners at second and third. With two outs, Spence lined a ball to the right side, but it was caught by Kennedy Frank at second base.
Drake took back the lead in the fifth after Finck walked the leadoff batter, Megan Sowa. She would later score on a single from Smith, which knocked Finck out of the game. Romshek entered to pitch and Drake managed one more run on an RBI single from Kaitlyn Finneran.
ISU’s offense sputtered in the final three innings as Newman retired nine of the last 10 batters she faced. The only Redbird to reach base was Strandgard with a seventh inning double. Newman accounted for the final Drake run with a solo homer in the top of the seventh.
Newman picked up the win in the circle, pitching seven innings and allowing seven hits and four earned runs. She struck out eight and walked five. Strandgard finished 3-for-3 at the plate with a run and three RBIs. Heineman, Romshek and de los Reyes each recorded a hit and Romshek scored twice.
