Sandburg Softball Drops 2 to Top-Ranked Rock Valley
Aaron Frey
Friday, April 26, 2019 6:41 PM
Athletics
Galesburg, IL
The Carl Sandburg College softball team dropped a pair of nonconference contests to Rock Valley, the top-ranked team in NJCAA Division III, on Friday afternoon at the Hungate Baseball/Softball Complex.
The Golden Eagles broke a fifth-inning tie to win Game 1 8-6 and pulled away late in Game 2 to defeat the Chargers (27-23 overall) 13-4.
GAME 1
Rock Valley 8, Sandburg 6
Rock Valley 330 020 0 — 8 10 3
Sandburg 003 300 0 — 6 9 4
L: Emily Adams 7 IP, 1 K, 2 BB
Key Moments
- Trailing 6-0 in the third, the Chargers cut their deficit in half behind a two-run triple from Katie Droste (Biggsville, Ill./West Central) and RBI single by Emily Bloomer (Burlington, Iowa/Burlington)
- Sandburg tied the game at 6 in the fourth with another three-run rally. Erin Flairty (Pekin, Ill./Pekin) doubled in a run and scored when the RVCC left fielder misplayed Droste’s fly ball. Bloomer came through with a tying double one batter later.
- The Golden Eagles plated the go-ahead run in the fifth with a leadoff hit-by-pitch and RBI triple, then tacked on an insurance run with a squeeze bunt.
Sandburg Standout
Droste went 2 for 4 with a triple, two runs and two RBIs.
Other Top Chargers
- Flairty 2 for 4, double, two runs, RBI
- Bloomer 2 for 4, double, two RBIs
- Stevenson 2 for 3, double, two runs
GAME 2
Rock Valley 13, Sandburg 4
Rock Valley 110 404 3 — 13 14 1
Sandburg 000 201 1 — 4 7 5
L: Lexi Juergens 6 IP, 3 K, 2 BB
Key Moment
Back-to-back triples in the fourth keyed a four-run rally that saw RVCC extend its lead to 6-0. The Golden Eagles added another four-run frame in the sixth to go up 10-2.
Sandburg Standout
Madison Benge (Stronghurst, Ill./West Central) was the only Charger with multiple hits, going 3 for 3 with a triple, run and RBI.
UP NEXT
The Chargers, in search of their first-ever Arrowhead Conference championship, host Black Hawk in a doubleheader at 3 p.m. Tuesday. Sandburg’s final conference twinbill is 3 p.m. May 3 at home against Illinois Valley. Sandburg (14-2) is two wins ahead in the win column and tied in the loss column with IVCC (12-2) entering the weekend.
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