March 30, St. Charles Community College at Mandy Thomas Field in Centennial Park

For the first time in almost two weeks, the Lady Roadrunners (12-16, 3-3 in Region 16) took the field against the St. Charles Community College Cougars on March 30. SFCC lost game one 8-4 and bounced back to take game two 13-3.

In game one, St. Charles scored three runs in the top of the first inning and added one in the second and two in the fourth. SFCC got its offense going with three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. St. Charles added two runs in the top of the seventh inning. SFCC scored a run in the bottom of the seventh.

Freshman pitcher/first baseman  Madison Love had a pair of hits and a run scored in game one. Sophomore middle infielder Mikayla Gustin had two hits, including a double. Freshman catcher/infielder Lauren Watkins hit a home run and drove in three runs. Freshman infielder

Abby Rector also drove in a run.

Love went the distance in the circle for SFCC. She allowed eight runs, six earned runs and struck out 13.

"We did not have a lot of good at bats in game one," said Head Coach Lyndsey Talbot. "We left too many base runners on, which has been the story in most of our games, but we were able to turn that around in game two."

In game two, St. Charles scored two runs in the top of the second inning. Both teams scored a single run in the third inning. The Lady Roadrunners took control of the game with two runs in the fourth inning, followed by 10 runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Freshman catcher/third baseman Gabi McGinty capped off the scoring with a walk-off grand slam that invoked the run rule.

McGinty had an outstanding game at the plate. She recorded three hits and drove in five runs to go along with the grand slam. Sophomore pitcher/outfielder MacKenze Gudde had two hits and two runs scored. Love had two hits, two RBIs and two runs scored. Freshman utility player Emily Wilsonadded two hits, two runs scored and an RBI. Rector and Watkins scored two runs each. As a team, SFCC produced 13 runs on 13 hits in game two.

Freshman pitcher Macy Buzzanga got the start in the circle for SFCC in game two. She pitched three innings, allowing three runs, only one of which was earned. Gudde pitched the final two innings in relief, allowing two hits and picking up the victory.

David Rohrbach

SFCC Athletics