Griffins Secure Spot In The SLIAC Tournament

ST. LOUIS, Mo.—For the 10^th consecutive season, the Fontbonne University softball team clinched a spot in the SLIAC Tournament after 4-3 and 7-4 victories against Eureka.

Fontbonne 4 Eureka 3

In game one, the Griffins finished with five hits and were paced by Maddy Strickland, who went 1-for-2 with a run scored and two RBI. Inside the circle, Strickland worked around a couple of jams to pick up her seventh win after allowing one earned run and striking out two.

Eureka, meanwhile, got a solid start out of ace Erin Smith as she went 6.0 innings, allowing two earned runs and striking out one. Offensively, Morgan Osborn and Gabby Wood had two hits each.

In the first, Maddie Cooksey led off with a double and she later scored on Strickland's RBI sacrifice-fly out to right field.

In the third, though the Red Devils evened up the score on Wood's RBI double which plated Osborn, who led off with a single. In the fourth, the Red Devils scored two more runs, helped out by two Griffin errors to take a 3-1 lead.

However, in the sixth, the Griffins put the game away. Alleigh Kruse led off with a single and moved up to second on Courtney Kedroski's sacrifice-bunt. Strickland followed with an RBI double out to left-center to make it 3-2.

Then, with two on and two outs, Kayla Winkler hit a ground ball to short. The ball right went right under the shortstops glove, allowing Emelia Modglin and Strickland to come on home.

The Red Devils got the tying run on base in the seventh but Strickland retired the final two hitters on a strikeout and fly-out to secure the win.

Fontbonne 7 Eureka 4

In game two, the offense stayed hot for Fontbonne with its 12 hits. Cooksey had herself a game going 3-for-4 with two runs scored, an RBI and hit a double for the fourth straight game. Modglin led them in the RBI department with two, while Kruse, Kedroski, Strickland and Melanie Russo all had an RBI each.

Diamond Thomas followed Strickland's performance with a gem of her own. She earned her fifth win on the season and struck out two.

The Red Devils ended with nine hits as Krysten Wallace, Adrianna Zeman, Kali George and Allison Cagley had two hits each.

Eureka jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first, however, the Griffins bats came alive in the third. Russo led off with a single. Two batters later she scored on Cooksey's double to left.

Kruse followed with a single to second and that allowed Cooksey to come on home to give the Griffins a 2-1 lead. After a fielder's choice, Strickland lined another RBI double to left-center making it a 3-1 outing. Modglin capped off the inning with the Griffins third RBI double to give them a 4-1 advantage.

In the fourth, the Red Devils plated three runs on four hits to tie the game up. In the bottom of the fifth, though the Griffins put the game away.

Cooksey got things going once more with a leadoff single. She was able to touch home on Kedroski's RBI single through the right side. Later in the inning, Modglin roped a triple to right and Kedroski easily came on in to score.

Russo went on to add an RBI double in the sixth and that was enough for Thomas to retire Eureka in order in the seventh for the win.

The team currently holds the No. 3 seed in the SLIAC Tournament which begins this Thursday. The team is scheduled to play at 7 p.m., from ABC Park.

Fans make sure to stay updated on fontbonnegriffins.com throughout the year for full updates and recaps on the softball team.