Softball wins sixth regular-season conference championship in a row
Elsah, Ill. - Fontbonne softball swept Principia Friday night 6-1 and 22-0 to earn their sixth straight regular-season conference championship. The Griffins are now 22-11 overall and will enter the SLIAC tournament as the No. 1-seed with a 12-2 conference record. Fontbonne is currently riding a 10-game win streak. The team will look to win their seventh consecutive SLIAC tournament championship this weekend when they return to the same field at Principia.
Game one
The Griffins and Panthers each scored one run in the first inning of a tight contest. After Principia earned three hits in the first, senior Griffin pitcher Madi Leonard held the host team hitless for the following six innings, with only one baserunner on a hit-by-pitch in the seventh. The veteran struck out the side swinging in the third as she finished with 12 strikeouts in the first game. Fontbonne scored the winning run in the fifth with an insurance run in the sixth and three more in the seventh. Sam Brown led off with a triple in the first but senior Emily Smith went three-of-four in the game including a beautiful bunt that rolled to where the second baseman usually plays but she was covering first as the corners were in for the sacrifice try. Smith recorded two RBI's and scored a run.
Game two
Fontbonne's offense exploded in the nightcap as the Griffins scored 22 runs on 28 hits. Brown, Smith, Maddie Cooksey and Courtney Kedroski each tripled with three of those occurring in the third inning alone. The Griffins plated 13 runs in the fifth on seven doubles, five singles, a walk and a Cooksey home run. Smith and Emelia Modlgin hit in each of their five at-bats while Courtney Kraus subbed in for Lindsay Schaefer and had a great night at the plate. Kraus went three-of-three and raked in a career-high five RBI's. Michelle Boyer came in to pitch the fifth inning for the Griffins. The junior struck out two of the four batters she faced. Leonard earned her 18th win as she struck out four Panthers. The Seckman High School alumnus earned her 203rd strikeout of the season without walking a single batter on the night.
In total, Smith went eight-of-nine at the plate with three doubles, a triple, five RBI's and six runs scored. Modglin hit for six of nine attempts with four doubles, five runs scored and three RBI's. Cooksey finishes with four RBI's on four hits of eight at-bats and scored three times. Both of Sarah Kitchen's hits were doubles on four attempts while Brown added a double to her two triples. The team averaged .542 batting while Leonard finished with 16 strikeouts over 11 innings.