GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) – Appearing in its first home games of the 2016 season, the Green Bay softball team (14-24, 5-5 HL) split a Tuesday afternoon double-header against first place UIC (27-13, 13-3 HL), who entered play having won six-consecutive games.
Down 8-5 in the seventh inning of Game 1, the Phoenix walked-off the Flames in dramatic fashion, 9-8, before dropping Game 2, 10-4. Green Bay will complete its three-game series against the visitors tomorrow afternoon at noon from Phoenix Field.
Green Bay 9, UIC 8 (Game 1)
Facing off against Flames' junior ace Elaine Heflin, the reigning Horizon League Pitcher of the Week, the Phoenix offense had its work cut out for them in the early going. UIC scored the game's first four runs off Green Bay starter Sara Simonar, including one in the first and three in the second.
Trailing 8-2 in the sixth, however, the Phoenix exploded for seven unanswered runs, beginning with freshman DH Brennan Engel's three-run double down the left-field line, which pulled Green Bay within three at 8-5.
After sophomore pitcher Katie Rossmann shut down the Flames in the top of the seventh, UIC decided to re-enter Heflin into the game to try to close it out. Instead, the Phoenix completed its improbable rally past the first-place Flames by scoring four more runs in the final frame, clinching the win on a walk-off hit by pitch by sophomore Allie Hislope.
UIC 10, Green Bay 4 (Game 2)
Neither team was able to get on the board in Game Two until the third, when a throwing error scored UIC centerfielder Lexi Watts. Things remained 1-0 until the fifth, as the Flames broke the game wide open by plating six runs on six hits to take a commanding 7-0 lead.
Although Green Bay was able to get two back, UIC continued the offensive onslaught in the sixth, scoring three more runs to up its advantage to 10-2. Engel's bat stayed hot in the sixth as she tucked a two-run shot inside the left field foul pole, but ultimately that's all the Phoenix could muster, falling 10-4.
With the win, the Flames snapped Green Bay's season-high five-game winning streak.
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