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Western Illinois sweeps first conference games against IPFW

May 28, 2008 on 9:40 pm | In Athletics |

MACOMB, Ill. - Samantha Valentine hit .714, going 5-for-7 at the plate with back-to-back home runs and six RBIs as Western Illinois swept IPFW in the home and conference opening games, Friday.

“I am so proud of our team,” Western Illinois head coach Holly Van Vlymen said. “They have all done a great job and they play with composure and heart. We had a beautiful day today and it’s great to be home in front of our home fans. Our previous record of 1-14 does not reflect our team. We play some though competition and I do that so we’re ready for conference play. IPFW is a very consistent team, both offensively and defensively.”

Western Illinois scored runs in four out of six innings at bat to defeat IPFW, 6-1, in game one.

Left fielder Britt Mason led off the first inning of game one with a home run to right center, giving the Westerwinds (3-14, 2-0 The Summit League) an early advantage. Colleen Biebel singled to right field and stole second on Valentine’s at bat. Valentine singled to put runners on first and second. Julie DePolo reached on an IPFW error that also allowed Biebel to score. Western scored a final run in the first inning after Valentine scored on a ground out to second, taking the Western Illinois lead to 3-0 over the Mastodons (4-10, 0-2 The Summit League).

Rachel Sinks led off the second inning in similar fashion to the first, with a home run to right center, taking the Western Illinois lead to 4-0.

The third inning was scoreless for the Westerwinds, however a Valentine single to left center scored Lauren Furgala in the bottom of the fourth inning.

The Mastodons prevented a shut out in the fifth inning after two Western Illinois fielding errors allowed Ty Lambert three bases. Lambert was batted in by Beatrice Pedraza, who singled to left field to score the only IPFW run of the game.

Western Illinois scored on an error in the fifth inning to defeat the Mastodons, 6-1, in the first conference game of the season.

Kamren Ferguson recorded her second win of the season with 10 strikeouts and only one walk in 25 batters and seven full innings of work. Amanda Olender suffered the loss, allowing eight hits.

Western Illinois used a six-run inning in game two to defeat IPFW, 9-1, in five innings of The Summit League double header.

The Mastodons were the first on the board as Kristina Karpun homered to left field to open the second inning.

Western Illinois answered back in the bottom half of the inning as DePolo singled to left field and stole second. Anna Nelson reached on a fielder’s choice and Sinks singled to right field to load the bases. Furgala reached on a fielder’s choice to the short stop, who threw home to catch DePolo attempting to score. Nelson scored on the next at bat as Mason reached on a fielder’s choice. Colleen Biebel singled to short and advanced to second on the throw as two runs scored. The Westerwinds had a 3-1 lead with two outs as Valentine hit a home run over the center field fence for a six-run Western Illinois inning.

Sinks opened the bottom of the fourth inning with her second home run on the day. With Biebel on base, Valentine hit her second home run of the day to take the Western Illinois lead to 9-1.

Western Illinois pitcher Courtney Jacobson held the Mastodons to only three hits in five innings of work. Jacobson (1-3) struck out seven batters and didn’t allow a single walk in 19 batters faced. Kayla Powell suffered the loss, allowing eight hits and striking out no one in four innings of work.

“Both Courtney and Kamren did a nice job of keeping the ball down,” said Van Vlymen. “Nikki Marinec needs credit for calling a great game from the dugout today.”

Valentine and Sinks each recorded two home runs, while Mason recorded one on the day. Hitting .600, Sinks was 3-for-5 with two RBIs in the double header. Biebel was 3-for-7 at the plate with two RBIs.

Western Illinois will wrap up the first Summit League series against IPFW, Saturday, with a game at noon.

Originaly from Source