Grace Christian Academy is 1-9 against Illinois Lutheran since April of 2016 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Monday. The Grace Christian Academy Crusaders will head out on the road to face off against the Illinois Lutheran Chargers at 10:00 a.m.
On Friday, Grace Christian Academy came up short against St. Anne and fell 12-7.
Angelina Larsen made the most of her time at bat despite the final result and scored three runs and stole two bases while going 4-for-5. Another player making a difference was Natalie Dalton, who scored a run and stole two bases while going 3-for-3.
Meanwhile, Illinois Lutheran put the finishing touches on their tenth blowout victory of the season on Thursday. They put the hurt on Momence with a sharp 11-2 win. The high-scoring effort was just what Illinois Lutheran needed considering they were shutout in their previous contest.
Kailey Van Es made a splash while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, striking out ten batters over seven innings while giving up just two earned runs off four hits. Van Es was also big at the plate, scoring three runs and stealing three bases while getting on base in three of her four plate appearances.
In other batting news, Calleigh Garrett and Azaylia Sanchez did most of the damage at the plate: Garrett went 2-for-4 with a home run, three RBI, and two runs, while Sanchez went 2-for-4 with a triple, two RBI, and a run. Emma Nagle was another key contributor, going 2-for-4 with a triple and a run.
Grace Christian Academy's loss dropped their record down to 5-15. As for Illinois Lutheran, the victory got them back to even at 12-12.
Grace Christian Academy was able to grind out a solid win over Illinois Lutheran in their previous matchup last Tuesday, winning 5-0. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Van Es, who struck out nine batters over six innings while giving up just two earned (and three unearned) runs off four hits. Now that she's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Grace Christian Academy still be able to contain Van Es? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
