Contact: Brock Reisler, Assistant Executive Director, breisler@midwestconference.org
 
ST. LOUIS, Missouri – The Illinois College softball program took UW-Oshkosh to 12 innings on Thursday in the opening round of NCAA Regionals, but the Lady Blues came up just short in a 1-0 defeat at the WashU Softball Field.
 
Thursday was all about pitching and defense in a game that featured just 13 hits and 24 combined strikeouts. In the circle, both teams boasted their respective conference pitcher of the year to start – Jordan Closs in the Midwest Conference (Illinois College) and Kiran Sanford in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (UW-Oshkosh).
 
One of Illinois College’s best chances came in the sixth inning, as the Lady Blues had a runner on second with one out. However, Maddie Adams was thrown out at the plate following a groundout to keep the game scoreless. IC also had two runners in scoring position in the 10th with one out, but a strikeout and popout ended the threat.
 
With Avery Fritz on the mound in relief for the Lady Blues, Illinois College retired two of the first three Titans that reached in the 12th. However, consecutive singles gave UWO the walk-off win.
 
Adams paced IC with two hits, while Alivia Darbe, Kendall Cole, Brooke Loveall, Halie Williams and Cambria Currie also recorded base knocks.
 
Closs was marvelous for IC in the circle. The back-to-back MWC Pitcher of the Year threw 10 innings, allowing just four hits and two walks with seven strikeouts across 128 pitches.
 
IC faces Capital University on Friday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. in an elimination game. Should the Lady Blues win, they would face the loser of WashU and UW-Oshkosh tomorrow at 4 p.m. in another elimination contest.