Groenewegen's Shutout Gives the Wild a Doubleheader Split

July 25, 2019 - National Pro Fastpitch (NPF)
Canadian Wild of Southern Illinois News Release

Canadian Wild of Southern Illinois celebrate a win
(Canadian Wild of Southern Illinois)

Marion, IL - The Canadian Wild of Southern Illinois split a doubleheader with the Aussie Peppers of Minnesota on Wednesday night at Rent One Park, falling 4-1 in game one before earning a 6-0 shutout victory in game two.

The Peppers took control of game one early, with singles from Rachel Lack, Chelsea Forkin and Jade Wall resulted in a 1-0 lead for the Australian side in the top of the first. The Peppers extended the lead to 2-0 in the fifth with Jordan Lambert singling home Madeline Cameron from third after Cameron led off the inning with a single and took third on an error by Erika Polidori.

The Wild answered back in the bottom of the fifth, cutting the lead to one. With Emma Entzminger on third, Larissa Franklin got a two-out single to push her home and break the shutout. The Peppers got that run back in the next half inning on a solo home run by Jade Wall, and tacked on an additional run in the top of the seventh to seal the game thanks to a Rachel Lack double that scored Jordan Lambert. That home run earned Wall RIP-IT Player of the Game for the first game.

Game two was a dominant performance from the Wild from start to finish, beginning with Sara Groenewegen's pitching, which earned her RIP-IT Player of the Game honors. Groenewegen was brilliant on the mound, taking a no-hitter into the sixth inning before Leigh Godfrey doubled to left for the only Peppers hit of the night. To go along with the single hit and no runs, Groenewegen allowed two walks and struck out 12 of the 24 batters she faced in the game.

Groenwegen's pitching was backed up by a strong offensive outing from the Wild hitters. Holly Speers got the scoring started in the bottom of the first when she came up to bat with two outs and the bases loaded and singled to center, scoring Erika Polidori and Jennifer Gilbert. Another RBI single added on to the Wild lead in the fourth, this time off the bat of Joey Lye. Larissa Frankin doubled home Emma Entzminger in the fifth to make it 4-0. Entzminger made it 5-0 with an RBI single of her own in the sixth, and Speers earned her third RBI on the night to finish off the scoring for the Wild in the inning and the game with a double to left.

The Wild look to secure a series win tomorrow in game four against the Peppers starting at 6:30pm CT.

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Canadian Wild of Southern Illinois celebrate a win

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