Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 Elsah, ILL. -- The Panthers took the field tonight in a faceoff against the Blackburn Beavers, who had yet to win a conference game (prior to this series).
Leah Schaefer started in the circle for Principia, striking out three in the contest. The Panthers fell behind early, as the Beaver's leadoff hitter opened up the series with a solo shot. The Panthers then rallied back to tie the game in the bottom of the first, on a base hit by
Noelle Shoemake. The momentum shifted in the direction of the Beavers, as they scored another 3 runs in the fifth inning to take a 4-1 lead. In the bottom half of the fifth, the Panther women plated three runs of their own, tying up the opening game.
Noelle Shoemake connected with her first career homerun, plating
AC McMullen and
Tanya Marquardt. The Panthers fought hard in the first game, but ultimately fell to the Beavers 5-4.
Noelle Shoemake finished the game with 3 hits,
Leah Schaefer and
Claire Thompson each contributed a pair of hits, and
Aleigha Russell also added a hit. The women were not discouraged by the loss, and took their energy, fight and focus into game two.
Game two saw
Noelle Shoemake on the rubber for the Panthers. This was one of Noelle's best outings, as she had good control of her pitches, striking out six batters through seven innings. Once again, the Beavers jumped ahead to an early lead, scoring two runs in the top half of the first inning. The Panthers were unable to answer until the fourth inning, when
Noelle Shoemake connected with yet another homerun, bringing the Panthers within one. Noelle did a great job of shutting down the Beaver offence through the middle innings of the game, allowing only 1 hit in five innings. The Panthers took a 4-2 lead in the fifth inning, on hits by
AC McMullen and Sam Bronkar. It all came down to the seventh inning, as Principia held the 4-2 lead. The Beavers managed to score two runs on another homerun, tying the game at 4 runs apiece. The bottom half of the seventh inning saw the Panthers in the heart of their order. With one out,
Leah Schaefer hit a line drive to the wall in left field, and was advanced to third base on a groundball to the pitcher. With two outs, and Schaefer on third,
Noelle Shoemake stepped up to the plate. On an 0-1 count, she put a hard ball in play on the left side of the infield, adding another hit to her impressive day at the plate, and winning the game for the Panthers in walk off fashion.
Noelle Shoemake,
Leah Schaefer and
Aleigha Russell all finished the game with two hits, and
AC McMullen and Sam Bronkar each contributed a hit. This was a great success for the women, as they overcame diversity and finished strong.
The Panthers will be back on the field tomorrow, Saturday, April 23
rd at 2:00pm and 4:00pm for a doubleheader against Spalding University. Thank you for your support and we look forward to seeing you at tomorrow's games!
