Chargers wrap up regular season with pair of road doubleheaders

GLEN ELLYN — The Sandburg softball team went on the road Friday and Saturday to finish its regular season schedule.

The Chargers nearly picked up a sweep Friday at Milwaukee Area Technical before a big seventh-inning rally by the Stormers in Game 2. Sandburg dropped both games Saturday at DuPage.

The Chargers will have to wait until later this week to see if they qualified for the Region 4 tournament.

FRIDAY
Game 1
Sandburg 9, Milwaukee Area Technical 8
Sandburg      040     050     0          —        9
MATC             330     020     0          —        8
W: Jalie Eller 6 IP, 3 K, 9 BB
Sv: Jordyn Climer: 1 IP, 0 K, 0 BB

Chargers highlights
• Sandburg took a 4-3 lead after a four-run second inning. With the bases loaded and nobody out, Payton Ruggles brought in a run with a groundout, and Jaylynn Hamilton did the same with a one-out grounder to second. Jordyn Climer drove in two more with a two-out single to right.
• Down 6-4 in the fifth, the Chargers went ahead with a five two-out runs. Up again with the bases loaded, Ruggles cleared the bags with a double to center that put Sandburg up 7-6. Reese Poole plated Ruggles with a triple, and Hamilton reached on a misplayed grounder that saw Poole score for a 9-6 lead.
• Clinging to a 9-8 lead, Climer relieved starter Jalie Eller and turned in a perfect inning to close out the win.

Sandburg standout
Ruggles finished just 1 for 4 but collected a team-high four RBIs. It marked a season high in runs driven in for the freshman left fielder.

Other top Chargers
• Madalynn Knapp: 2 for 4, two runs
• Emma Racke: 2 for 4, run
• Poole: 1 for 3, triple, walk, two runs, RBI

Game 2
Milwaukee Area Technical 7, Sandburg 6
Sandburg      023     010     0          —        6
MATC             000     200     5          —        7
L: Climer 6.2 IP, 5 K, 1 BB

Chargers highlights
• Hannah Pyle and Madalynn Knapp opened the second with back-to-back home runs for a 2-0 Sandburg lead.
• Sandburg pushed its lead to 5-0 in the third as Climer and Pyle each doubled in a run, and Knapp added a two-out RBI single to center.

Sandburg standout
Pyle was a triple shy of the cycle, going 3 for 4 with two runs scored and three RBIs. In addition to her homer and double, the sophomore first baseman had an RBI single in the fifth for a 6-2 lead.

Other top Chargers
• Knapp: 2 for 4, home run, two RBIs
• Hamilton: 2 for 4, double, RBI

SATURDAY
Game 1
DuPage 10, Sandburg 7
Sandburg      001     020     4          —        7
DuPage          200     044     x          —        10
L: Eller 6 IP, 3 K, 5 BB

Chargers highlights
• Knapp delivered a two-out double to center with two out in the third, and Hannah Pyle scored from first on the play following an error by the DuPage left field.
• Racke plated two runs with a double to center that put the Chargers up 3-2 in the top of the fifth.
• Pyle homered to lead off a four-run fourth inning for Sandburg. 

Sandburg standout
Pyle homered and scored three times as she finished 2 for 4 in the contest.

Other top Chargers
• Knapp: 3 for 4, double, two runs
• Racke: 2 for 4, run, two RBIs

Game 2
DuPage 9, Sandburg 1 (5 innings)
Sandburg      000     10       —        1
DuPage          500     04       —        9
L: Climer 4.1 IP, 4 K, 0 BB

Chargers highlights
• Pyle brought in the Chargers' lone run with an RBI groundout in the fourth to make it 5-1. Eller had led off the inning with a single and moved to third on a passed ball.

Sandburg standout
Tieler Williams-Fouts was a perfect 2 for 2 at the dish for Sandburg as she collected her first multi-hit game of the year. 

Other top Chargers
• Hamilton: 2 for 3

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