ELSAH, IL - The Principia Softball team played their first conference doubleheader on Tuesday evening as they hosted the Eureka Red Devils. The Panthers made significant progress in game one, only giving up seven runs over seven innings. In their four previous contests, the games had ended after five innings since Principia was down by ten or more runs.
Many of the Panthers are new to the game of softball, so they still learning the game and improving their defense and hitting. After errors plagued the Principia defense in their first four games, the Panthers limited their mistakes in game one. After three innings, Principia was only down 3-0, and the Panthers kept Eureka from scoring in three out of seven innings. Coming off a ten strikeout performance on Saturday, Cobb struck out four batters this time around in her first seven-inning complete game of her young career.
Unfortunately, despite tying their season-high for hits in a game with five, Principia wasn't able to string enough together to score any runs. After the 7-0 loss in game one, the second game of the doubleheader got out of reach quickly, as the Panthers ultimately fell 19-0.
Some highlights for the Panthers:
Gracie Paul returned to the lineup and went 3-4 on the evening while playing outstanding defense at shortstop.
Titra Staley made some great catches in the center field.
Heather Savoye – who switched to second base to help strengthen the infield defense – got a hit in her third straight game. Captain
Rosie Paul also recorded a hit in game one, which makes her the only Panther with a hit against all three opponents this season. Lastly, everyone who batted for Principia on the day put the ball into play at least once, which is an improvement from the previous doubleheaders.
Up Next: Principia will play their fourth straight home doubleheader on Saturday when they host Westminster College starting at 12 PM.
