TOLEDO, Ohio – The Toledo softball team split a pair of games with Mid-American Conference opponent Northern Illinois on Saturday afternoon at Scott Park. The Rockets picked up a 6-2 win in game one but was eliminated from the MAC Tournament with a 4-1 loss in game two.

Prior to Saturday's game action, Toledo honored its four graduating seniors – Maris Barbato, Sidney Griffith, Sophia Knight and Kendra VanderLugt.

Toledo (19-28, 12-14 MAC) took an early 2-0 lead in game one and never looked back. The Rockets tallied 10 hits, the 20^th contest this season with double-figure hits. Eliza Maloney led the way with three hits for her seventh multi-hit game of the season.

Senior Sophia Knight went the distance in the circle, throwing a three-hitter in her 10^th complete game of the season. She struck out five batters and yielded just one earned run. Knight ended the day with 403 strikeouts, becoming only the fifth Rocket to tally more than 400 strikeouts in her career and finish with the fifth-most Ks in program history.

In game two, Northern Illinois (20-28, 14-13 MAC) used a four-run fourth inning to take the lead for good. The Rockets got on the board with an RBI single from Audrey Miller in the fifth but were unable to add to it. Sophomore Mady Yackee provided two innings of relief in the circle, giving up one run on two hits.  

Quoting Head Coach Jessica Bracamonte on Senior Day
"It's always great to celebrate our seniors on senior day. They poured so much into our program throughout their careers and we are incredibly thankful for all they've done. We talk a lot in this program about leaving people and places better than they found them, and all four of them have done just that."

Hitting Highlights
Includes both games

• Maris Barbato – 4-for-6, 1 R
  • 13^th multi-hit game of the season
• Eliza Maloney – 4-for-6
  • Ninth multi-hit game of the season
• Alexis Shepherd - 2-for-4

Pitching Highlights

• Sophia Knight (Game 1 – W, 12-11) – 7.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5Ks
• Sophia Knight (Game 2 – L, 12-12) – 5.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 Ks
• Mady Yackee (Game 2) – 2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K

How It Happened
Game 1

• Samantha Bolding hit a two-out, two-RBI double to left field to give Toledo a 2-0 lead in the first.
• Northern Illinois scored on a fielder's choice in the third to trim the Rockets' lead in half, 2-1.
• A sac fly from Madison McKay extended Toledo's lead in the fourth to 3-1.
• The Huskies cut into the lead in the first with an RBI double.
• The Rockets tacked on three runs behind a pair of RBI singles in the sixth to take a four-run advantage.

Game 2

• Northern Illinois plated four runs in the fourth to take the lead.
• The Rockets got on the board with an RBI single from Audrey Miller in the fifth, 4-1. Toledo got two runners aboard in the sixth but couldn't capitalize.

Up Next
Toledo will close out its series against Northern Illinois on Sunday. First pitch is set for 12:00 p.m.

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