McLean County Times

After playing four games over two days in Murfreesboro, the Illinois State Redbirds traveled to Nashville to face Ohio in the Lipscomb Purple/Gold Challenge. Despite taking an early lead, the Redbirds fell to the Bobcats 7-2 after a decisive seven-run fifth inning by Ohio.

In terms of offensive highlights for Illinois State, Delainey Bryant went 0-for-1 with one walk and one RBI. Tatum Wolford managed a 1-for-3 performance with one run, while Adisyn Hopkins went 1-for-2 and was hit by a pitch.

On the pitching side, Hannah Meshnick took the loss with a record of 4-7, allowing nine hits and seven earned runs over 4.2 innings. Paige McLeod pitched for 1.1 innings without allowing any runs or walks and struck out one batter.

The game began with two scoreless innings before Ella Boyer scored from third on a sacrifice fly by Bryant, giving Illinois State a brief lead. However, Ohio's seven-run burst in the fifth inning turned the tide decisively in their favor. The Redbirds managed to score once more when Wolford crossed home plate on a wild pitch in the sixth inning but could not close the gap further.

Looking ahead, Illinois State will travel to Conway, Arkansas, for matches against Central Arkansas and Omaha from March 7-9 as part of the Milisa Moore/Shane Lamb Tournament at Farris Field.

For ongoing updates about Illinois State Softball, fans can follow them on Twitter (@RedbirdsSB), Instagram (@redbirdsoftball), and Facebook (Illinois State Redbird Softball). Additional information is available on GoRedbirds.com and through the Illinois State Redbirds App.