STATESBORO, Ga. – IUPUI softball's offense exploded for 11 runs, capped by a grand slam from
Kristin London as the Jags beat Morehead State, 11-2 in five innings.
IUPUI (2-8) earned its second-straight win to close out its time at the Eagle Round Robin at Georgia Southern using an 8-run fourth inning to take command of the game against Morehead State.
"The last couple of games the offense has been seeing the ball really well," said head coach
Elisabeth Beirne. "Today we started to string some hits together and then [Kristin] London delivered the big shot with runners in scoring position."
The Jags trailed 1-0 entering the bottom of the third but quickly erased the deficit as
Jaida Speth doubled to lead off the inning and
Mandy Dallas singled home Speth in the next at-bat to tie the game. After a pitching change,
Delainey Turner hit a double that moved Dallas to third and
Emily Berrisford singled to centerfield to bring home both Turner and Dallas to give IUPUI a 3-1 advantage.
Morehead State capitalized on IUPUI's second error of the game to score its second unearned run of the contest with two outs in the top of the fourth to cut the Jaguar lead to one.
The bottom of the fourth began with London getting hit by a pitch. After a Speth single, Dallas delivered with a two-run double that scored London and Speth. Turner was next up and kept the inning going with a single. After a Berrisford pop out,
McKenzie Loge drew a full count walk to load the bases.
Haley Ginger also drew a full count walk in her at-bat to bring home IUPUI's sixth run of the game.
In the following at-bat, Morehead State committed an error that would prove costly.
Delaney Thompson reached on a fielding error at second base that brought in another run and that was followed by a foul out by
Sabrina Trevino that should have ended the inning. Instead, London came back up to the plate and on a 2-1 count, hit a grand slam that put IUPUI up 11-2.
The home run by London was the first of the year and the fourth of her career. Her four RBI also matches a career-high she set as a freshman against NC State in 2016. It was just the second home run of the season for IUPUI and the first grand slam since Dallas hit a grand slam in the first inning against Detroit Mercy on April 28 of last season.
Morehead State led off the fifth with a triple but a ground out and double play ended the game and secured the Jags second win.
For the second-straight game, freshman
Lexi Lucas dominated in the circle, earning her second win of the season. Lucas threw a complete game, allowing just five hits and two unearned runs while striking out two batters. Lucas has now gone two-straight outings (12 innings) without giving up an earned run or walking a batter.
The bottom of the order was again dominant for the Jags with the final four spots in the order went a combined 8-for-10 with eight runs scored and seven RBI. Speth finished the day 3-for-3 at the plate with two runs scored while both Dallas and Turner went 2-for-2. Dallas also finished the game with three RBI.
IUPUI will be back in action next weekend as the Jaguars head to Fayetteville, Ark., to play in the Razorback Invitational.