PEORIA, Ill. – Sophomore Morgan Day tossed a career-high 12 strikeouts to help No. 6 seed Illinois State win its fifth-straight game Thursday afternoon, taking down No. 10 seed Valparaiso, 4-1, in its first outing at the Missouri Valley Conference Championship.
BIRD BITS VS. VALPARAISO (W, 4-1)
Top Performers:
- Shannon Felde: 2-for-3, 2 R, 1 BB
- Allison Spence: 1-for-2, R, RBI, BB
- Alyssa Wiebel: 1-for-3, 2 RBI
Pitching Breakdown:
- Morgan Day: 7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 12 K
BY THE NUMBERS / KEY INNINGS VS. VALPARAISO (W, 4-1)
- Second team all-conference performer Morgan Day picked up where she left off in the circle against the Crusaders, fanning four batters in the first two innings to have a total of 15 strikeouts in the last nine innings versus Valpo.
- Allison Spence dropped a single into center field to send Shannon Felde charging across home plate in the bottom of the opening frame to help ISU hold an early 1-0 lead.
- Day struck out the side in the fourth for eight strikeouts in the game, extending her strikeout total to 26 in the last 18 innings against Valpo.
- Back-to-back singles by Alyssa Wiebel and Ellie Weltha drove in three runs to push ISU out to a 4-0 advantage in the bottom of the fifth.
- Valparaiso lifted a solo home run over the left field wall to cut into the Redbirds' lead in the sixth, but Day escaped the inning with her 10th strikeout.
- Day tossed two more batters in the seventh to finish with 12 strikeouts in the game – the second-most recorded by a Redbird in a single game in the last 15 seasons.
ON DECK
Illinois State will continue its MVC Championship run later tonight when it takes on No. 3 seed UNI.