CHICAGO – UIC Softball celebrated Senior Day Saturday and the career of first baseman
Tara McElligott by fighting for a doubleheader split with IUPUI. The Jaguars took the opener, 4-3, but the Flames bounced back to win the nightcap by the same score.
Dee Dee Caskey drove in two runs in the second game, while
Miranda Gomez went the distance in the circle for her first victory and complete game of the season.
Game 2 Recap
UIC hung a crooked number on the scoreboard in the bottom of the first inning during a rather unique frame.
Maica Ingles singled to begin the inning before
Tara McElligott was hit by a pitch.
Carlee Jo Clark sliced a ball into right field, but Ingles was initially thrown out at the play. After discussion, the umpire crew determined it was an illegal pitch from IUPUI's
Isabelle Waggner. Given another opportunity, Clark rifled a base hit to left and this time Ingles scored.
The next two runs came in on a ball that only traveled about 25 feet from the plate.
Dee Dee Caskey put down a bunt to Waggner and her flip to the plate was late as McElligott slid under the tag. Meanwhile, Caskey created a run-down that allowed Clark to score and make it 3-0 in favor of the Flames.
After stranding at least one runner on base in each of the first four innings, the Jaguars pushed across three of their own to even the ledger at three runs apiece. Back-to-back doubles by
Rachael Gregory and
Hailey Pop provided the scoring for IUPUI.
The Flames manufactured an answer in the bottom of the fifth. McElligott laced a sharp single up the middle and quickly stole second base. Clark put down a sacrifice bunt to move her teammate up to third base before Caskey powered the first pitch she saw into right field for a sacrifice fly that gave UIC a 4-3 lead.
IUPUI has one more scoring chance in the top of the sixth. After
Miranda Gomez got a pair of quick outs, the Jaguars hit a bloop single and double to left field to put two in scoring position. The next hitter knocked a one-hopper back to Gomez and she threw to first for the final out of the inning.
Game 1 Recap
The Jaguars put up a run in the top of the second inning to take the lead, but it was brief as the Flames countered with two of their own to take the lead.
Alannah Cran and
Jojo Santiago ignited the two-out rally with back-to-back singles to left field.
Emma Crowley then muscled a base hit to the gap in right-center field to score the first run for UIC.
Isabelle Garcia walked to load the bases before
Maica Ingles flipped a single into left to score Santiago and give her team its first lead of the contest.
IUPUI would tie the score in the top of the fourth. After
Alyssa McIntosh got two quick outs from the circle, back-to-back base hits and a walk loaded the bases. A second base issued on balls forced in a run to tie the game at 2-2.
The Jaguars regained the lead in the fifth inning. An RBI single off the bat of
Jaylin Calvert scored
Morgan Gilbert who earlier led off the inning with a single, and gave IUPUI a 3-2 edge. UIC nearly equalized or better in the bottom half when it put two on with nobody out, but the Flames could not score.
The visiting team picked up an unearned insurance run in the top of the seventh. It was a head's up play as a runner came all the way around to score on a ground ball back to pitcher
Christina Toniolo with the bases loaded. The right-hander fired home for the first out and Crowley relayed on to McElligott first for the second out. Calvert never stopped running from second base, however, and she scored to extend the lead to two runs.
UIC would not go down quietly in the bottom of the seventh. Ingles walked to lead off the inning and she took second on a wild pitch. After McElligott's deep fly out to left field, Ingles tagged and moved up to third base.
Hailey Cowing drove in a late run with an RBI ground out.
Grace Fleming was next and she put a charge into a ball that flew to deep right-center field, but Calvert ran it down and dove toward the wall to make the catch for the game's final out.
Notes
- Tara McElligott was hit by a pitch in the bottom of the first inning in game two; it was the 36th time in her career that she was plunked. McElligott passed Amanda Rivera to set the program's all-time record in that statistic.
- Alannah Cran had two hits to lead UIC in the opener. It was her third multi-hit game of the season, and first since April 2 at Northern Kentucky.
- Miranda Gomez earned her first win of the season in game two. It was also her first complete game
- UIC moved to 5-6 in one-run games with Saturday's results.
- The Flames are 7-4 when scoring in the first inning and 9-4 when scoring first overall.
Up Next
- The Flames and Jaguars will wrap up the series and the 2022 regular season on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.
