Eight in a Row for Softball after Monmouth Sweep

MONMOUTH, IL – Blackburn College Softball captured their eighth-straight victory by sweeping Monmouth College in a nonconference doubleheader. 

Senior Holly Heuerman led the team's offense with six hits, seven runs scored, five runs batted in. She also hit two home runs. Sophomore Zoe Mitchell finished the day with five hits and scored five runs while junior Julianna Tabian tallied five hits with four runs batted in. 

Freshman Shelby Koeing threw seven strikeouts while senior Taylor Girth tallied eight strikeouts in five innings. 

The first game saw Monmouth score first with a run in the first inning but Mitchell started the second inning with a single. Heuerman then knocked her third home run of the season to score Mitchell and gave Blackburn a 2-1 lead. 

The Scots took the lead back with two runs in the third, but the Beavers responded in the fourth. Mitchell hit a single to get on base then Heuerman hit a double to put runners on second and third. Tabian followed with her own double which scored Mitchell and moved Heuerman to third. During the next at bat, senior Grace Mackey reached first on a throwing error and scored Heuerman, giving BC the 4-3 lead. 

Monmouth answered with two in the fourth and held a 5-4 advantage but Heuerman tied the game at 5-5 when she scored off a Lexi Shaw single in the top of the sixth. 

In the seventh inning, Blackburn scored three runs when Heuerman smashed her second homer of the game to score Allen and Mitchell. It would not be enough though as Monmouth rallied with three runs of their own to send the game into extra innings. 

In the eighth inning junior Miley Kwiatkowski was placed on second and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt from Shaw. Brianna Melchor followed with a single which Kwiatkowski used to score. The Scots also scored in the eighth to continue the game. 

With Natalie Smith placed on second, Mitchell hit a single then Heuerman loaded the bases on a Scot error. Tabian followed with a single which scored Mitchell and Smith. Heuerman scored on a sacrifice fly from Mackey. Tabian scored the fourth run of the inning with a Melchor single which put Blackburn ahead 13-9. Monmouth got close, scoring three runs in the bottom of the ninth, but the Beavers held on to take a 13-12 win. 

The second game saw Blackburn score in the second inning. Heuerman got on with a single then scored on a Natalie Keith single. The team added two more in the third when Breana Allen hit an inside the park home run which also scored freshman Kenadee Frey. 

Monmouth tied the game in the bottom of the second with three runs. The game was still tied entering the fifth inning but Blackburn broke the tie. Frey got on by an error and advanced to second by Allen's single. She then scored off a single from Smith. A fielding error scored Allen and moved Smith to second. Smith got to third off a wild pitch then scored off a Mitchell single. 

Mitchell advanced to second off a wild pitch and reached third on Heuerman's single. Mitchell scored off a single from Tabian. Heuerman scored the final run of the inning off a Shaw single. The five runs ended up being the difference as Blackburn kept the Scots scoreless for the rest of the game to win 8-3. 

With the win, Blackburn improves to 9-9 on the season and will now look to enter St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Friday as they head to Lyon College. l