FULTON, Miss. – The No. 11 Indians dropped an 8-7 decision in Game 2 to No. 2 Des Moines Area (Iowa) Community College Monday night.
Bailie Springfield (Mantee) was 2-for-4 at the plate with a home run and two runs scored while Meg Sullivan (Springville, Ala.) added a home run to help the Indians (17-5) total eight hits in the loss.
Trailing 5-2, ICC rallied with a four runs in the bottom of the fourth to take a 6-5 lead.
Springfield started the inning with a home run to left-center. Hannah Williams (Philadelphia) reached on an error and scored on a passed ball. Cori Childs (New Site) was hit by a pitch and stole her 21st base of the season before Sullivan reached via walk. Childs and Sullivan scored on a two-out error before a pitching change by the Bears (9-0) resulted in a strikeout to end the inning.
Des Moines Area answered to tie the game on a solo home run by Taylor Briley in the fifth before taking an 8-6 lead on a two-run double by Bailey Richards in the sixth.
Sullivan drove a solo homer to center to make it an 8-7 contest in the bottom of the sixth. McKenzie Piper (Pell City, Ala.) put the tying run on first on a two-out single and was replaced on the bases by Kelcie Yates (Yazoo City), but the Bears got a grounder to short to end the threat.
Haley Reid (Batesville) entered to run and stole second to put the tying run in scoring position after Williams reached on a one-out walk. The Bears got back-to-back strikeouts by Alexis Groet (2-0) to get out of the jam and earn the sweep of the Indians.
Next up for the Indians will be a road trip to Pearl River Community College (11-7, 4-2 MACJC) for a conference doubleheader scheduled for Sunday. The threat of rain could postpone the games to Monday – a decision is expected to be made Friday afternoon by PRCC officials.
For more information on ICC softball, follow the Indians on Twitter (@LetsGoICC).