East Peoria, Ill. -  The Illinois Central College softball team split with Lincoln Land on Monday afternoon, winning 8-6 in the opener but losing 4-3 in the nightcap.  ICC cranked out twelve hits in the win but managed just five hits in the loss, which snapped the Cougars' five-game winning streak.  ICC's record in now 15-11 overall and 8-4 in Region 24 while Lincoln Land moved to 8-21 overall and 2-12 in region play.  

Game 1:  ICC 8, LLCC 6
Gracie White and Olivia Drish set the tone as White led off the bottom of the first with a single and Drish launched a 1-0 pitch over the center field fence to give ICC a 2-0 lead.   Shylar Boze added a solo homer in the bottom of the third as ICC extended their lead to 3-0.

Lincoln Land responded with two runs in the top of the fourth as the lead-off batter reached on an error and scored on a home run with no outs.  The Loggers had a one-out double and the next batter reached on a hit-by-pitch, but pitcher Kiersten Manning got the next two batters to pop out and keep the Cougars ahead 3-2.

ICC tacked on three runs in the bottom of the fifth. Olivia Stirnaman had a lead-off double and Manning helped her own cause with a two-run blast to left field, while Boze followed that up with her second home run of the game to put ICC up 6-2.

Lincoln Land did not go down quietly, tying the score at 6-all in the top of the sixth on a double, two singles, and then a three-run home run.  

The Logger lead was short-lived as Brooke Cordray led off the bottom of the sixth with a solo home run to straight-out center for a 7-6 Cougar lead.  Olivia Stirnaman and Drish had back-to-back singles and advanced bases on a fielder's choice.  Boze singled to left to bring in another run (her third RBI) for the final margin. 

Manning gave up a lead-off single in the top of seventh, but then got three straight outs for the win.

Hitting
Shylar Boze | 3-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI
Olivia Drish | 2-4, HR, 2 RBI
Kiersten Manning | 1-3, HR, 2 RBI
Brooke Cordray | 2-3, HR, double, RBI
Olivia Stirnaman | 2-4, double  

Pitching
Kiersten Manning | 7 IP, 10 H, 13 K

Game 2:  LLCC 4, ICC 3
ICC struck first in Game 2 as Manning belted her second homer of the day for a 1-0 advantage in the bottom of the second inning.

LLCC answered with a run in the top of the third courtesy of a single, sacrifice bunt, and single to knot the score at 1-all.  

Cordray matched Manning by also torching her second homer on the day and after a Manning walk, Marley Williamson hit an RBI single to put the home team ahead 3-1 in the bottom of the fourth. 

The Loggers again responded with a single, error, stolen base, and three more singles to tie the score at 3-3 in the top of the fifth.

ICC loaded the bases in the bottom of the fifth with no outs but could not punch a run across so the score remained deadlocked at 3-3.  

Lincoln Land got two hits in the top of the seventh to manufacture a 4-3 lead.  ICC was unable to answer, going three-up, three-down in the bottom of the seventh.  

Hitting
Brooke Cordray | HR
Kiersten Manning | HR
Marley Williamson | RBI

Pitching
Amber Lee | 4.1 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 K
Olivia Drish | 2.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 K

Next up: Host #3 Parkland on Friday, April 14 in a 3pm doubleheader at Thome Field