SOUTH HOLLAND, ILL. - Sunday's Region 4 softball doubleheader between Madison College and South Suburban College began with a 16-1 drubbing by the WolfPack in five innings and ended with a walk-off home run to give the Bulldogs a 9-6 win. The split snapped a three-game win streak overall for the Pack, as well as a four-game win streak against Region 4 opponents. Madison College still leads the all-time series with SSC by a 14-8 margin. 

Game #1: Madison College 16, South Suburban College 1 (5 innings)

From the opening batter, Sunday's opener was completely dominated by Madison College, resulting in their highest hit total of the season and matching their highest run output in a game this spring. Freshman Sadie Svendsen singled up the middle and scored two batters later on an error. Second baseman Cathryn Zegadlo double to center and was able to bring in fellow freshman Cassie Coffey for a 2-0 lead in the first inning. 

In the second inning it was Coffey that delivered the big hit, lining a two-out single to right to score Svendsen, who had double to center two batters earlier. The lead stretched to 5-0 in the third. Sophomore Hanna Stremkowski hit a double to center to plate Zegadlo, and then scored when second year first baseman Bertina Dodge lined a single to right.

The five-run differential exploded to 16-0 in the fifth as Madison College scored 11 runs and sent 16 batters to the plate, racking up ten hits and turning four into extra bases. Dodge doubled in two runs to get the big inning started and shortstop Sadie Svendsen ripped a triple to plate two more. Kelsey Meverden followed with a run-scoring single, and Raegen Schwarz added a RBI-double sandwiched between a pair of errors that each resulted in a run scoring. Sophomore Torin Slaughter got in the mix with a double to left to score Schwarz and Hanna Stremkowski before Meverden completed the inning with a single through the left side that allowed Slaughter to touch home. 

Of the 17 hits, seven went for extra bases. Svendsen, a native of Huntley, Illinois, was tops with three hits and a walk, which resulted in three runs scored and two batted in.

Six others produced multiple hits in the game, with Dodge, a Bowler, Wisconsin, native, driving in three runs to tie a career-high. Coffey and Slaughter eached had two hits, two RBI, and two runs scored. 

Stremkowski, a native of Stevens Point, Wisconsin, tied a career-high with three runs scored, to go along with a run batted in as she was 2 for 3 with a walk. 

In the circle, sophomore Lauryn Etienne (3-0) won her third consecutive outing with four perfect innings and two strikeouts. Freshman Gretta Lewis worked one inning and allowed a run on two hits.



Game #2: South Suburban College 9, Madison College 6

The WolfPack kept the bats rolling into the day's finale, as Cassie Coffey doubled to center in the top of the first and sophomore Raegen Schwarz followed two batters later with a two-run home run for her first of the season and third of her career.

South Suburban College (7-11) took their first lead of the day in the bottom of the third, posting three runs on two hits and an error to go up 3-2. Madison College pulled back to even in the fourth as Addie Fritts, up with the bases loaded and nobody out, grounded into a fielder's choice that allowed Aubrey Juga to score. Unfortunately, the inning ended with three runners still aboard for the WolfPack.

Each team scored a run in the fifth inning as Juga followed a Coffey triple with a single to left for a momentary 4-3 lead before the Bulldogs tied it at 4-4. Still feeling it at the plate, the Pack tacked on two more as Coffey's productive afternoon concluded with a double to center to drive in Bailey Mester and Sadie Svendsen for a 6-4 advantage midway through the sixth inning.

South Suburbun, however, still had answers for the WolfPack. A two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth tied the game yet again 6-6. And in the seventh, a hit batter forced the WolfPack to replace starting pitcher Sophie Golembiewski with fellow freshman Gretta Lewis. An error by Shelby Brooks at second put another runner aboard with no outs, and the next pitch she threw was belted to left for a three-run, walk-off home run and a 9-6 win.

Golembiewski (2-2) was credited with the loss, allowing seven runs, five of which were earned, on eight hits. She recorded one strikeout in her six innings. Lewis failed to record an out and was tagged for two runs, one earned, and one hit allowed.

The WolfPack bats did produce ten hits, led by a 3 for 4 effort with two doubles and a triple by Coffey. The native of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, scored two runs and and drove in two more as she has now had multiple hits in seven of the 13 games she's appeared in.

Right behind her in the lineup was Juga with two hits, a run, and a RBI, and Schwarz with two hits, two RBI, and two runs scored. Mester also finished with 2 hits and a run, and the former Belmont HS athlete is now 7 for her last 8 at the plate.

Up Next: 

Madison College (9-5) will play its home-opening doubleheader on Monday against Rock Valley College (27-3), which was ranked #5 in the last NJCAA Division II Poll. The WolfPack has lost 14 straight games to RVC, who leads the all-time series 52-19. First pitch at Robert D. Goodman Softball Field will be at 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. with the games streamed live at MadisonCollege.tv and live stats via the GameChanger app.

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