McLean County Times

Illinois State faced two challenging games on the second day of the USF-Rawlings Tournament in Tampa, Florida. The Redbirds suffered a narrow 2-1 loss to Georgia Southern and then fell 10-2 to No. 2 Florida at the USF Softball Stadium.

In the first game against Georgia Southern, Illinois State's Tatum Wolford went 1-for-2 with one walk, while Bella Wilkerson also went 1-for-2, adding one walk and an RBI. Pitcher Hannah Meshnick took the loss with six innings pitched, allowing nine hits and two earned runs. Georgia Southern took an early lead with an RBI single in the first inning. The Redbirds tied it in the second inning when Wilkerson drove in Abby Knight. The game remained tied until Georgia Southern secured a walk-off win with an RBI single by Combs in the seventh inning.

In their second matchup against Florida, Delainey Bryant had two hits and scored once for Illinois State. Wolford contributed a double and an RBI, while Abby Knight also hit a double. Pitcher Paige McLeod allowed seven hits and six runs over four innings. Florida built a commanding lead by scoring multiple runs across several innings. Despite Illinois State's effort to close the gap with two runs in the fifth inning, Florida responded by extending their lead further, ending the game after six innings.

Illinois State will conclude their participation in the tournament on Saturday against No. 22 Michigan at 9 a.m. CT.

For more updates on Illinois State Softball, fans can follow them on Twitter (@RedbirdsSB), Instagram (@redbirdsoftball), and Facebook (Illinois State Redbird Softball).

GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App provide additional resources for tickets, merchandise, photos, and more.