MT. CARMEL, Ill. -- Wabash Valley held off Olney Central, 5-3, in the second game to earn a split of a Great Rivers Athletic Conference softball doubleheader on Thursday at Paul Schnarre Field.
The nitecap victory snapped a six-game losing streak by the Lady Warriors, now 8-20 overall and 3-6 in GRAC play. Olney Central stands 8-15 and 5-5 after the split.
WVC led the second game 2-1 after one inning. But the Blue Knights evened the score with one run in the second.
The game remained tied at 2-2 until Jade Montgomery's team pushed across one run in the fifth inning for a 3-2 lead. It was a lead they would not relinquish but needed two more runs in the sixth to secure things. Olney once in the top of the seventh to account for the 5-3 final score.
In the first, Gracee Sullivan delivered an RBI single, while a second run came home on an error on a pop fly.
Jayly Akers put Wabash Valley on top to stay, 3-2, in the fifth with a single up the middle.
A two-run home run by Taylor Wilke, her second of the season, made it 5-2 in the sixth inning. Wilke led the way at the plate, with two of the Lady Warriors' seven hits.
Lexi Burris pitched a complete game in the circle for the win. She allowed eight hits, while striking out four batters and walking two.
In the opener, Wabash Valley scored once in the bottom of the fifth inning to close to within 7-6. Kinsly Heichelbech came home on a passed ball with two outs, but the Warriors left the tying and lead runs on base as the inning ended.
Olney jumped to a 3-0 lead in the third inning, but the Lady Warriors rallied with five runs in the fourth for their first lead of the game.
Gracee Sullivan and Marisa Lane had RBI hits in the frame, while Kinley Edwards uncorked her third home run of the season – a 2-run shot to left. Akers also brought home a run when she reached on an error.
Lane and Abby Schreiner both had two hits to lead the Lady Warrior attack.
In the circle, Demi Wolfe worked the first four innings, followed by Kyrsten White with three.
WVC hosts 17th-ranked Lake Land (23-7, 11-1) on Sunday, Apr. 2 at 12-noon at Paul Schnarre Field. Both games of the doubleheader will be streamed live on ESPN+, as the NJCAA Game of the Week.