Bandits Take Both Games of Doubleheader Against Beijing
August 6, 2019 - National Pro Fastpitch (NPF)
Chicago Bandits News Release
Chicago Bandits celebrate vs. the Beijing Eagles
(Chicago Bandits, Credit: Samantha Payton)
Rosemont, Il. - The Bandits continued their winning ways on Tuesday with their second doubleheader sweep of the Beijing Eagles this season.
Game 1: Bandits 2, Eagles 1
For the second straight game, a hero was needed to determine the outcome of a game between the Bandits and the Eagles. And for the second straight game, that hero was a Bandit.
Rip It Player of the Game Gwen Svekis was the hero in the first game of the doubleheader, as her single in the bottom of the sixth inning drove in the eventual winning run. Svekis finished 1-2 on the day with a single, walk, and RBI.
Haylie Wagner started in the circle for the Bandits, allowing one run on two hits and one walk.
In her 1.2 innings of relief, rookie Kelly Barnhill earned the win, improving her record to 3-0.
Barnhill struck out five of the six batters she faced and allowed no base runners.
In the circle for the Eagles, Chai Yinan and Ping Fan combined to allow no earned runs on four hits in their six innings of work.
The first run of the game came in the top of fourth inning, when Xi Kailin hit a single that drove in Lu Ying from second base. Though the Eagles led off both the fifth and sixth innings with runners on base, they failed to score for the rest of the game.
The Eagles held onto their 1-0 lead until the bottom of the sixth inning. Brenna Moss led off with a single and immediately put herself into scoring position by stealing second base. After Alyssa DiCarlo popped out, Abbey Cheek reached base on a walk. The next batter, Hannah Flippen, hit a groundball to the second baseman that was mishandled, allowing Moss to score the tying run from second and Cheek to advance to second base. Svekis followed up the error with a base hit, giving the Bandits a 2-1 lead.
Any hopes of a comeback for the Eagles were quickly put to rest by Barnhill, who retired the final three batters in order, including two looking strikeouts.
Game 2: Bandits 8, Eagles 2
No late game heroics were required for the Bandits in their decisive 8-2 victory over the Eagles.
Eight different Bandits recorded at least one hit in the victory, including Nadia Taylor who hit her second home run of the season and Gwen Svekis who hit her seventh home run of the year.
Rookie Savannah Heebner went six innings in the circle for the Bandits, allowing two runs, three hits and striking out eight. In relief of Heebner, Barnhill threw a solid inning, striking out two and walking one.
The scoring began in the bottom of the first inning for the Bandits, when Abbey Cheek drove in Amanda Chidester with an RBI triple. Taylor extended the lead to 3-0 with a massive two-run home run in the bottom of the third.
Nine Bandits were sent to the plate in the bottom of the fourth inning, leading to three runs being scored on three hits, two walks, and a hit by pitch. With the big inning, the Bandits lead grew to 6-0.
The Eagles broke through on the scoreboard in the top of the sixth inning when Lu Ying hit a two-run home run, her second of the year. In the bottom half of the inning, Svekis hit a two-run home run of her own, making the score 8-2 in favor of the Bandits.
With the victories, the Bandits extend their winning streak to 13 straight games and improve to 35-7 on the season, while the Eagles fall to 7-38 overall.
The final game of the series between the Bandits and Eagles will be played on Wednesday, August 7 at 7:05 PM at Parkway Bank Sports Complex in Rosemont, IL.
Images from this story
 Chicago Bandits celebrate vs. the Beijing Eagles (Samantha Payton) |
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