Game #1 Box Score I Game #2 Box Score

PEKIN, Ill. - The IUPUI softball team's pitching struggled as both Wright State and Western Illinois jumped out to early leads against the Jaguars at the Country Inn & Suites Bradley Softball Invitational inside the Dragon's Dome on Sunday. Wright State defeated the Jaguars 11-1 in five innings in the morning and Western Illinois captured an 8-3 victory that evening. 

Freshman Jessica Huey was IUPUI's top performer at the dish on Sunday, going 2-for-5 with two runs batted in. 

Against Wright State (1-2), the Raiders pounded out five hits and scored six runs against junior starter Jessica McGown before the Jaguars had even batted. The lead swelled to 9-0 by the middle of the third before IUPUI pushed home a run in the bottom half. 

Freshman Lauren Popov led off with a single and later scored on a throwing error to account for the Jaguars' lone score. The Collinsville, Ill.-native had one of IUPUI's four hits and took over McGown in the circle to work 4.2 innings. 

McGown (0-1) was saddled with the loss in her season debut while Popov fanned four and allowed five runs (three earned) in relief. Wright State's Sharon Palma (1-1) struck out three and walked two in the win. The Raiders had 16 hits including three each from Justine Shilt and Mollie Berry.

In game two, WIU's (2-1) Lauren Furgala staked the Westerwinds to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first by reaching on a bunt hit, stealing second and third and scoring on a squeeze play. However IUPUI (0-4) tied the game in the second when Amy Raker drilled a solid single through the left side and later came home on Stacy Harte's single to center. 

Western regained a 2-1 lead in the third and scored four unearned runs in the fourth, thanks to three IUPUI fielding errors. 

The Jaguars answered with a two-run double from Huey in the fifth, but stranded two runners with back-to-back  ground outs to end the inning. Popov started the rally with a single and Chelsie Hale reached on a throwing error to put two runners in scoring position for Huey, batting in the leadoff spot.  

WIU tacked on singles runs off McGown in the fifth and sixth to cap the game's scoring. Furgala went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and Ashley Campbell was 1-for-1 and scored three times. Campbell (1-0) also went the distance in the circle, allowing seven hits and walking two. 

Raker (0-1) took the loss, giving up five runs (two earned) in 2.1 innings work. 

IUPUI will now have a 12-day gap between games as the Jaguars don't play again until Feb. 20 at the 6th annual Georgia Softball Classic in Athens. The Jags will play Marshall, Tennessee State, UNC Greensboro, host Georgia and Ball State over a three-day span.