In a CSL South matchup, the Evanston Wildkits came away with a win against Glenbrook South and ace Jen Zucker.
The Titans loaded the bases in the top of the first on hits from Alyssa Strapko, Maddie Hauser, and Vicky Mohr. But Evanston’s Allie Managlia managed to hang tough and strike out the last two batters of the inning, stranding the three runners and putting a 0 on the scoreboard.
The first inning was equally quiet for the Kits, as they went three up, three down, with two strikeouts from Zucker.
Grace O’Gara singled for the Titans in the top of the second, but she was their only baserunner of the inning as Managlia had two more strikeouts.
The bottom of the second brought three runs for the Kits, and they never relinquished the lead after that.
The inning started with a single up the middle from sophomore Caitlin Boer. Sophomore Emily Mathyer then put down a sacrifice bunt to move Boer to second base and into scoring position. Sophomore Allie Nortz worked a walk after fouling off many pitches.
Junior captain Maddie Reiches then singled up the middle to bring Boer in to score from second. With runners on first and second, freshman Emma Maxwell stepped to the plate and ripped a shot to centerfield to score Nortz and bring Reiches to third. Reiches then surprised everyone and stole home before the inning was over.
Daniela Machiori started the inning with a line shot to centerfield, but Allie Nortz came in to make a shoe string catch and rob her of a hit. Caroline Duke then fielded a ground ball to her right and threw to first for an out, and Managlia struck out the third batter of the inning.
The Kits continued to apply pressure in the third. After an out, Boer started yet another rally, this time with a double to the right field fence. Emily Mathyer grounded out to second, moving Boer to third. Allie Nortz came through with a big two out, two strike single up the middle to score Boer and give the Kits a 5-0 lead.
Maddie Reiches singled once again before Emma Maxwell came through with her second RBI hit of the game. The Kits ended the inning with a 5-0 lead.
The Titans scored their first run in the top of the fourth. Megan Steil singled with two outs. Mackenzie Morgan then singled to bring Steil in and give the Titans a run.
In the bottom of the fourth the Kits scored two more runs. Jenna Ehrensaft started with an infield single. Ehrensaft then stole second, putting her in scoring position. After an out, Caroline Duke doubled to left field to bring in Ehrensaft and give the Kits a 5 run lead once again.
With two outs, Emily Mathyer singled to left field and brought Duke in to score, giving the Kits seven runs. Allie Nortz and Maddie Reiches then singled before the inning ended with the bases loaded.
The TItans went three up, three down in the fifth, with two more Managlia strikeouts. The Kits followed by going three up, three down, on a nice play by Katie Rossman at third.
In the top of the sixth, the Titans made the game interesting. Mohr started with a single to centerfield. Zucker followed with a single to right field. Izzy Bergman then caught a line drive at second for the first out.
Steil came through with her second hit of the day and Morgan followed with a line drive up the middle to give the Titans two more runs. Caitlin Boer fielded a ground ball at first for the second out before Alyssa Strapko walked to load the bases once again. Allie Managlia muscled it up and struck out the second batter in the Titans order to end the inning and strand three runners.
The Kits offense was quiet in the sixth on another very nice play by Rossman.
In the top of the seventh, Hauser started with a single to left field. Mohr then hit a ball to the warning track in centerfield. However, Nortz went back to make a great catch on the track. She then fired the ball to Caitlin Boer to double off the runner and give the Kits defense two outs and no runners to work with.
The last batter hit a ball deep to right center. Centerfielder Nortz and rightfielder Ehrensaft collided but Ehrensaft managed to hang on to the ball to end the game with the score 7-3.
The Wildkits are now 4-3 on the season and 2-0 in conference play.