On Monday, April 25th, the Blackburn Softball team played a doubleheader against the Eureka College Red Devils. It was a beautiful day for softball as it was right around 75 degrees all day with sunshine. The first game started at 12 pm, and the Beavers found themselves down one right away after a late first inning rally by the Red Devils. The Beavers however were able to tie the game in the third inning. The next runs of the game didn't come until the fifth inning when the Red Devils were able to get two runs to cross the plate making the score 3-1. In the top of the seventh, it looked like the Red Devils had finally found their rhythm as the Red Devils scored 6 runs to make the score 9-1 heading into the bottom of the seventh. The Beavers had a rally but fell short as they were only able to get three runs to cross the plate before the final out of the game. The Beavers lose the first game by a final score of 9-4.
The leading hitters for the Beavers was Hannah Goett who was the only Beaver with more than one hit as she went two for four with a double and an RBI. Also having RBIs in the game was Jaclyn Elmore, Lauren Rhodes, and Faydra Sommer.
Pitching for the Beavers in the first game was Lauren Rhodes as she pitched seven innings, giving up 15 hits, on seven earned runs, and two strikeouts. Rhodes received the loss. The winning pitcher was Kali George of Eureka as she pitched seven innings, giving up 9 hits on two earned runs.
In the second game, the Beavers found themselves in a close one as the game was tied at 1-1 going into the fifth inning. The Beavers only run until this point was on solo home run by Jaclyn Elmore. In the fifth inning, the Red Devils were able to get two runs to cross the plate to make the score 3-1. The Beavers were unable to answer in the bottom of the fifth. In the top of the sixth, the Red Devils got one more run up on the board, but the Beavers responded with a final run of their own. At the end of the sixth inning, the score was 4-2. In the top of the seventh, the Red Devils added to their lead as they were able to score three more runs. The Beavers lost the second game by a score of 7-2.
Leading the way for the Beavers at the plate was Jaclyn Elmore as she had the only two runs scored for the Beavers in the game, two solo home runs.
The losing pitcher was Jensen Ballinger who pitched seven innings, gave up 12 hits, six earned runs, and struck out two Red Devils. The winning pitcher of the second game was Rachel Patterson who pitched seven innings, gave up 5 hits, with only two earned runs, and two strikeouts.
The Beavers next games will be a doubleheader on Tuesday April 26th, at Westminster. The first game is to start at 2:00 pm, with the second game to proceed after the first game concludes. The final home game will be on Saturday, April 30th, against MacMurray. The first game is set to start at 4:30 pm and the second game is set to start at 6:30.