CHICAGO, Ill. -- The University of Chicago softball team rolled to a doubleheader sweep of their crosstown rival, North Park, on Tuesday afternoon.
Laila Sims was the story of the day for UChicago as she stole two bases in the first game of the doubleheader to break the all-time stolen base record for the University of Chicago with 68.
In the opening game of the day, the Maroons took advantage of the struggling North Park pitchers and showed their patience and discipline at the plate. After three consecutive walks to open the game,
Matilda Nelson and
Audrey Hui did their jobs with RBI groundouts for a 2-0 lead. Then, with two outs,
Laila Sims ripped an RBI triple down the right field line to stretch the lead to 3-0.
Those three runs would be all
Paige Heffke needed in the circle as she dealt yet another gem for the Maroons. Heffke took her no-hitter into the fifth inning until the Vikings dumped a bloop double into shallow right field for their only hit of the game. She would finish the game with a complete game shutout and five strikeouts in her eighth win of the season.
Meanwhile, the UChicago was not done supporting Heffke at the plate.
Matilda Nelson singled in the third and later scored on a wild pitch to stretch the lead to 4-0. In the fifth inning,
Laila Sims singled and later scored on an RBI single by
Kate Bannister. Then,
Maya Martinez lifted a two-run home run deep over the centerfield wall to give the Maroons a 7-0 lead. After a
Sedona Ding hit by pitch,
Madeline Murphy doubled into left center, and
Natalie Antin singled home Ding to lock up the 8-0 run-rule win.
In the second game of the doubleheader, North Park struck first with a run in the first inning, but the Maroons quickly answered with three in the bottom of the first.
Audrey Hui and
Laila Sims brought in runs on bases loaded walks, and
Anna Jensen scored the third on an RBI groundout.
After another run for the Vikings in the second, UChicago scored five straight runs.
Maya Martinez ripped a solo home run over the center field wall for her second four-bagger of the game. Then,
Natalie Antin ripped a single into right field that scooted under the glove of the Viking player and resulted in another run for the Maroons. In the third, it was
Madeline Murphy ripping a bases loaded double into right field to stretch the lead to 8-2.
After two more North Park runs to cut the lead to four, UChicago adderd an RBI single by
Maya Martinez, a sacrifice fly by
Madeline Murphy, and an RBI triple by
Audrey Hui to seal the 11-5 win and the doubleheader sweep.
Nicole Wong got the start in the circle, pitching two innings and allowing two runs for the Maroons.
Alana Kimball earned the win for UChicago with 4.0 innings of 1 run softball, allowing just one hit in the final four frames in relief.
Maya Martinez led the Maroons at the plate in the doubleheader with four hits and four RBIs thanks to a pair of long balls.
Natalie Antin also added three hits and a pair of walks.
Sedona Ding reached base on six of her eight plate appearances with a single, four walks, and a hit by pitch.
Following the doubleheader sweep, the Maroons improve back to over .500 at 11-10 on the season. The team returns to UAA play this weekend as they look for their first UAA win of the year in Pittsburgh against Carnegie Mellon.
