Entering the weekend with a 9–9 record, the Maroons hoped that the sunnier weather could bring them better luck in their two doubleheaders against No. 10 North Central and Case Western on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Unfortunately for the Maroons, this was not quite the case, as they dropped both games to North Central and the first game against Case to end 1–3 on the weekend. Despite three losses, the weekend did end on a positive note with an extra-innings win against the Spartans.
On Saturday, the squad traveled to Naperville, IL to face off against North
Central. The South Siders fell to the Cardinals 3–0, due in large part to North Central pitcher Andrea Starr’s no-hitter. Two runs in the third inning and one in the fourth supplemented Starr’s flawless performance on the mound to give North Central the upper hand in the first game of the day. Despite the loss, Chicago still showed a great effort. Third-year Jordan Poole pitched six solid innings, tallying four hits, four walks, and three strikeouts.
In the second game of the doubleheader, the Maroons were defeated 8–3 after North Central scored five runs in the bottom of the third. Numerous South Siders still stood out in the game. Second-year Maggie O’Hara put Chicago on the board with a bases-loaded triple in the sixth inning, while fourth-year Tabbetha Bohac pitched six innings and tallied an impressive six strikeouts.
Despite the two losses to start the weekend, the Maroons loaded the bus from Naperville with positive thoughts about their efforts.
“Although we were disappointed to lose both games, North Central is a top team and we played really well against great competition,” said second-year pitcher Alexa Hanelin. “We were excited after Saturday to play Case on Sunday and were optimistic that we could get a couple of wins.”
The Maroons dropped their first game to Case Western by a close margin of 3–2. However, first-year first baseman Alyssa Stolmack had a banner day, hitting her first collegiate homerun in the bottom of the fourth. Coming back from an ACL injury, Stolmack had an interesting take on the milestone.
“Hitting a home run was a nice change of pace because I got to jog around the bases instead of trying to sprint!” said Stolmack.
The Maroons’ luck did finally come in the final game of the weekend in an exciting extra innings win against Case by a score of 6–5. The sixth inning in particular was action-packed for both teams. The Spartans started the sixth with a grand slam to bring the score to 5–2. The Maroons answered, with Bohac hitting her third homerun of the year and first-year Sara Koniewicz hitting a double to bring a runner on first home. Koniewicz then made her way around the bases to tie the game on third-year Devan Parkison’s RBI single.
Tied at 5–5, the game was decided in extra innings by Bohac’s walk-off RBI single to bring Maggie O’Hara home from second.
“It was awesome to be able to pull out a win against Case, especially with them being part of the UAA,” Bohac said. “It was a great team victory with everyone contributing and fighting the whole game. We are looking to take this momentum and energy into the games against Illinois Wesleyan today.”
Stolmack added, “Winning a tough game in extra innings is an excellent reminder of what we’re capable of as a team. Each one of us knows we can make the clutch play or get the clutch hit, which gives us the confidence to go into today’s games with yesterday’s fight and energy.”
Chicago split a doubleheadlast evening against Illinois Wesleyan University, losing the first game 7–1, but taking the second by a score of 4–1. Their next game is this Thursday at 3:30 p.m. at Aurora University.
