ROLLA, Mo. – Maryville University softball dropped two games on Saturday afternoon to the University of Illinois Springfield, losing 8-4 in game one and 5-0 in game two.
 
Game one recap
After falling into an early 2-1 deficit, Maryville fought back with a pair of runs in the fourth. Kylie Swinney started the inning with a single followed by Shaina Kmetz's walk. Melanie Nelson came in to pinch run for Kmetz and both runners came home to score on a UIS error.
 
The Prairie Stars responded with two in the bottom of the fourth, but the Saints continued to battle. Emersen Heron singled to begin the top of the fifth and was replaced on the base paths by Tori Forbeck. Forbeck proceeded to steal second and came in to score on Callie Harrison's sacrifice fly two batters later to cut the lead to one.
 
The home starting pitcher, Payton Long, settled in over the next two innings to finish off a complete-game victory for her squad with some help from three insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth.
 
Winning Pitcher: Payton Long (12-4)
Losing Pitcher: Reagan Smith (4-8)
 
Batting Leaders
Kylie Swinney: 3-for-4, R
Taylor Duff: 2-for-4, 2B
Erin Sammelman: 1-for-4, RBI
 
Game two recap
The second game got off to a much quieter start. Emerson Heron posted a pair of zeroes in the first two frames as did her counterpart.
 
UIS broke the silence with a pair of runs in the third inning and a trio in the fourth. Now with five runs of support, the Prairie Stars starter took it from there and blanked the Saints for the remainder of the game.
 
Duff, Sammelman, Heron, and Harrison collected the four hits for the Saints as they drop both games to the Prairie Stars on Saturday afternoon.
 
Winning Pitcher: Reagan Miles (10-3)
Losing Pitcher: Emersen Heron (8-7)
 
Batting Leaders
Callie Harrison: 1-for-3, 2B
Emersen Heron: 1-for-2
Taylor Duff: 1-for-2
 
Records:
Maryville: 14-19, 9-11 GLVC
McKendree: 28-13, 12-8 GLVC
 
What's Next?
The road trip continues for Maryville softball with a doubleheader against the University of Southern Indiana on Saturday, April 23. The first pitch is scheduled for noon.