Peoria, Ill. - The weather has been deceptively nice of late, but the Illinois Central College softball team (2-4) took the safe route with a bit of a temperature dip and headed indoors to the dome at the Louisville Slugger Sports Complex to play a doubleheader with the Lake County Lancers on Friday afternoon. It wasn't for a lack of drama, with the Cougars utilizing some late-game heroics to win both games by scores of 8-7 and 3-2, respectively. 

GAME 1 | ICC COUGARS 8, LAKE COUNTY 7
The Cougars were the first to the scoreboard by way of a Shylar Boze RBI double, but the Cougars would not see any runs go up on the scoreboard for most of the remainder of the game. Lake County, meanwhile, would score seven unanswered runs, including three runs each in the third and sixth innings. That set up what became a sixth for ICC that was a barrage of biblical proportions - trailing 7-1 going into the inning, this happened. Hanna Evans leadoff home run, Gracie Guenther makes it back-to-back homers, Madi Kessler hit by a pitch, Courtney Campbell bunt single (Kessler and Campbell herself score on the same error), Gracie White hit by a pitch, Marley Williamson singled, Nivarra Oredina reaches on an error (which Reagan Linder scores on), Boze tallies an RBI groundout, and Marlee Brown gets an RBI sac fly. Simple, right? Well, as intense as that run of success was, it gave ICC a seven-run inning and what would become an 8-7 win after Hanna Evans held it down in the circle in the top of the seventh. 

HITTING STATS
Gracie White (RF) | 2 singles, 1 walk, 1 hit by pitch, 1 stolen base
Marley Williamson (CF) | 2 singles
Nivarra Oredina (SS) | 1 double, 1 stolen base
Shylar Boze (3B) | 1 double, 2 RBI, 1 walk
Marlee Brown (1B) | 1 RBI, 1 walk
Hanna Evans (P) | 1 home run, 1 RBI
Graci Guenther (C) | 1 home run, 1 RBI
Madi Kessler (2B) | 1 hit by pitch
Courtney Campbell (LF) | 2 singles, 1 stolen base

PITCHING STATS
Hanna Evans (W) | 7 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 6 BB, 11 SO

GAME 2 | ICC COUGARS 3, LAKE COUNTY 2
The answer is no. No, there wasn't enough late-game drama yet to be had in Peoria on Friday. Alas, there was no seven-run inning to be had this time around. More of a pitcher's duel, actually. The Lancers struck first with a two-run third inning before ICC countered in the fourth with a Hanna Evans RBI single. A Shylar Boze RBI double tied it up in the sixth (2-2). Ah, but then the pitchers, not that they weren't already, went to work. For ICC, it was Marlee Brown holding Lake County off the scoreboard in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings - nearly no blemishes on her line for those frames. Then, on the first play of the bottom of the ninth, with the 'ghost runner' Madi Kessler out at second base, Courtney Campbell laid down a bunt and reached on an error. That error was just enough to score Kessler and give ICC a 3-2 walkoff winner. 

HITTING STATS
Kylie Hyde (RF) | 2 singles, 1 stolen base
Marley Williamson (2B) | 1 double, 1 stolen base
Nivarra Oredina (SS) | 1 single
Shylar Boze (3B) | 1 single, 1 double, 1 RBI
Hanna Evans (1B) | 2 singles, 1 RBI
Graci Guenther (C) | 1 single, 1 walk
Olivia Strawn (RF) | 1 single
Gracie White | 1 stolen base

PITCHING STATS
Marlee Brown (W) | 9 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 5 BB, 7 SO

WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE COUGARS
2024 Midwest JUCO Bash
vs. #15 North Iowa Area Trojans (6-4)
Friday, March 8th - 12:00 PM
Watch Live & Live Stats (GameChanger)