Griffins open SLIAC play with 11-inning sweep of MacMurray
Fontbonne softball sweeps MacMurray in a doubleheader, ending each game early for their fifth straight win. Modglin hit five singles, a double, a home run, a sac fly and recorded two stolen bases.
Highland, Ill. - Fontbonne softball dominated in their first conference doubleheader, defeating MacMurray 10-0 in six innings followed by a 12-1 five-inning sweep. Madi Leonard struck out 21 Highlanders in 10 innings while Emelia Modglin totaled seven hits on seven at-bats, six RBI's and six runs scored in the three-hole.
The Griffins are now 8-9 after their fifth consecutive win. Fontbonne is ready to host Greenville College Wednesday, April 5th followed by Webster in a rescheduled contest for Friday, April 8th. Both doubleheaders will begin at 5pm at ABC Ball Park in St. Ann, Mo.
Game one
Madi Leonard threw an incredible game to go .500 in the circle with 14 strikeouts in the complete-game shutout. After an error allowed MacMurray to get the leadoff hitter on base, Leonard struck out the next five Highlanders and after a groundout, continued with four more strikeouts in a row. MacMurray's first hit occurred in the fourth on a single and notched just one more baserunner in the sixth on a double.
Fontbonne's first three batters each singled to allow senior Emily Smith to drive in two runs in the first. After two outs, Courtney Kedroski walked and the wild pitch allowed both freshman Emelia Modglin and Smith to score. Sam Brown walked in the second and after a passed ball and two outs, Modglin drove in the Griffins' fifth run in the second and crossed the plate on a fielding error by MacMurray. After a quiet third inning, Maddie Cooksey walked and stole second. Again with two outs, Modglin came through for Fontbonne, singling to drive in her second RBI of the game. Smith came up big once again with a triple to score the final run of the inning and give Fontbonne a 7-0 lead after four.
Brown homered to score two and Smith doubled to score the final run of the game. Modglin went four-of-four at the plate with four runs scored and two RBI's. Smith went three-of-four with four RBI's. Brown finished on two-of-three at-bats with three runs scored and two RBI's. Fontbonne's hitters in the 5-8 spots in the lineup were held hitless on the day. Marrisa Harris struck out six for MacMurray.
Game two
Leonard again led the defense from the circle with seven strikeouts in four innings to earn her fifth win of the season. Modglin hit all three of her at-bats in the second game including a double and home run to score four and plate two runs herself. Cooksey went two-of-three at the plate, scoring twice and driving in one run. The Griffins totaled four doubles in their second consecutive 11-hit game.
Modglin's double with two outs in the first set up Smith for the RBI double to get on the board right away. After a scoreless second inning, Cooksey doubled, afterwhich Modglin homered to give Fontbonne a 4-0 lead. Fontbonne drove in seven runs in the fifth on four hits and two errors to gain an 11-0 advantage. The Griffins also tallied three walks, two stolen bases and a sacrifice fly in the inning.
MacMurray avoided the shutout in the bottom half of the fourth after two outs. The Highlanders walked and hit two singles to score their only run in 11 innings on the day. Fontbonne's final two runs in the fifth came on a walk, two singles and a bases-loaded groundout.
Fontbonne disallowed any more runs in the fifth after a lineout to the shortstop produced a double play to end the inning as Kedroski tossed to Alleigh Kruse back at second for the forceout.