Game 1 I Game 2

INDIANAPOLIS - The Jaguars softball team used timely three-run homers in both games of Wednesday's Summit League doubleheader with Western Illinois to claim a pair of wins, 5-4 and 3-2. Freshman Amy Raker got both pitching wins in relief, tossing six innings of scoreless ball in the two games combined. 

The wins snapped IUPUI's six-game losing skid and closed the team's 13-game homestand spanning the past 13 days.

Game #1 - IUPUI 5, Western Illinois 4
In the opener, Western jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second inning against starter Lea Corcoran, but the Jags got last laugh, punctuated by Raker's three-run bomb in the decisive fifth inning. 

In the second inning, WIU's Julie DePolo roped a two-run double and later came home on a throwing error as she attempted to steal third. IUPUI began chipping away in the bottom of the third when Raker plated Mia Ettl with a ground out to shortstop. 

Western made it 4-1 on Beth Golitko's RBI single up the middle in the top half of the fourth inning but the Jags countered when junior Cayleigh Harvey launched a solo homerun over the left field fence. 

WIU's lead held until the fifth inning when Ettl led off by drawing a four-pitch walk and Crockett did the same two batters later. After Head Coach Holly Van Vlymen tried to settle down starter Lori Pankratz, Raker drilled an 0-1 pitch over the fence to build the 5-4 lead. 

Raker also came up with two key defensive plays in the final two innings to help shut down the Westerwinds. 

In the sixth, Western got a runner to third with just one out before Raker picked off DePolo's comebacker and was able to catch the baserunner in a rundown between third and home for the second out. In the seventh inning, Colleen Biebel led off with a single, but was doubled off when Sam Valentine hit a liner back to Raker. 

Raker (1-6) worked three innings of scoreless relief, allowing two hits and a walk in her first collegiate win. Corcoran tossed four innings, scattering five hits and four runs (three earned) for the Jags. 

Pankratz (3-7) tossed a complete game, striking out four and walking two in the loss. 

Raker went 2-for-3 with a season-high four runs batted in and Harvey went 2-for-3 from the No. 7 spot in the batting order. 

Game #2 - IUPUI 3, Western Illinois 2
In the nightcap, four of IUPUI's seven hits came in the fifth inning as the Jags turned a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 lead thanks to Jenna Crockett's second homer of the year. 

Cassie Harvey led off with a ground ball double to the gap in right center before WIU starter Courtney Jacobson got Stacy Harte and Ettl to fly out. Junior Amanda Mackey followed by rolling a single back up the middle, putting runners on the corners. 

After the second pitch to Crockett, Mackey dared WIU (7-24, 5-6 Summit) to catch her in a rundown as the Westerwinds conceded the stolen base. Two pitches later, Crockett hammered a pitch over the centerfield fence for her third career bomb. 

Raker (2-6) got the win, largely based on her working out of a bases loaded, no out jam in the top half of the fifth. Starter Jessica McGown gave up back-to-back singles before being lifted in favor of the freshman. Raker gave up an infield hit to Racheal Heagney to load the bases for Lauren Furgala. Furgala hit an 0-2 pitch to Mackey in short centerfield, who cut down Biebel at the plate on the play. 

The home plate umpire originally ruled Biebel safe as it appeared Boyts dropped the ball, but later called the runner out as the IUPUI (6-22, 3-12) catcher lost control when trying to throw the ball to third. Raker got completely out of the jam with a ground out to Crockett at third. 

The rookie righty gave up just two hits and a walk in three innings of relief work while McGown yielded seven hits and two runs over the first four innings. McGown matched her season-high with five punchouts in the outing as well. 

Jacobson (2-6) scattered seven hits and fanned four in defeat. 

Crockett went 2-for-3 with a double and homer in the win while Valentine was 3-for-3 and scored both of Western's runs in the loss. 

IUPUI will continue it's string of nine straight Summit League games this weekend with a three-game set at UMKC. Game one of the series is set for Friday at 2:00 p.m..