Illinois State's offense came alive early and held on through a furious UNI rally to defeat the Panthers 7-6 Thursday evening at Charlotte West Stadium in Carbondale, keeping its postseason hopes alive in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. The Redbirds, now 29-21 on the season, used a balanced offensive attack and a key pitching change to outlast UNI, which finishes its season at 29-24. Illinois State will return to action Friday at 3 p.m. CT in an elimination game against Southern Illinois, while UNI's season comes to an end.
Illinois State struck first and built its lead incrementally, plating a run in the first inning and adding two more in the second. The Redbirds got big contributions throughout the lineup, including a triple from Tatum Wolford, a pair of doubles from Bella Atkinson, and a home run from Ella Boyer, who drove in two on the night. The offensive catalyst, however, may have been Morgan Calhoun, whose three RBIs — the most on either team — proved critical in building the cushion Illinois State needed. All told, the Redbirds finished with 11 hits, spreading the damage across seven batters who recorded at least one knock.
UNI managed 14 hits and kept it close throughout. The Panthers actually took a 3-1 lead after the first inning, but Illinois State's offense answered repeatedly. Skylar Benesh went 3-for-5 for UNI, and Kate Lappe matched her with three hits of her own. Sykora Smith chipped in two RBIs, as did Peyton Johnson, who also stole a base. The Panthers made things interesting with a two-run sixth inning to trim the deficit to one, but could not push the tying run across in the seventh. Starter Ashlyn Enke was tagged for four earned runs in three innings, and the UNI bullpen could not stop the bleeding as Anna Wischnowski, who took the loss to fall to 12-10, surrendered two more.
For Illinois State, Hannah Meshnick entered in relief and earned the save — her seventh of the season — tossing four innings and limiting the damage despite allowing four walks. Paige McLeod picked up the win to improve to 20-6, throwing a clean final three innings and allowing just two earned runs.