SOFTBALL: EA-WR squeaks past Granite City in 10 innings

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WOOD RIVER -- It didn't take the East Alton-Wood River Oilers long to bounce back from a tough loss to rival Civic Memorial on Tuesday.

EA-WR edged the Granite City Warriors 2-1 in 10 innings on Wednesday. The Oilers snapped a three-game losing streak and improved to 10-6.

The Oilers will play back-to-back road games against South Central Conference teams Staunton and Carlinville on Thursday and Friday.

On Tuesday against Civic Memorial, EA-WR blew a 4-1 lead to the Eagles and lost 5-4 after giving up two runs in the sixth and two more in the seventh.

On Wednesday, Macy Flanagan and Rebecca Null made sure the Oilers weren't going to lose their third game in a row. Flanagan delivered a sacrifice fly to left that scored Kate Baskin from third for the winning run and Null pitched all 10 innings and struck out 10 and gave up two hits to pick up the win.

Null also retired the first 13 Granite City batters before Granite City right fielder Krystle Marler reached on a fielding error.

With the Oilers and Warriors still tied at 1-1 after eight innings, the game was played under the international rule, which each team starts an inning with a runner on second.

The bottom of the 10th began with Baskin on second. She moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Ashley Knight and remained there after Haley Shewmake reached on an infield single. Then, she scored home on the sacrifice fly by Flanigan.

Flanigan also scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the third. With one out, she reached second on a throwing error by Granite City shortstop Khaly Bettorf. She then moved to third on a wild pitch by Granite City pitcher Morgan Tanksley. One out later, she scored on a single by Carly Campbell to give EA-WR a 1-0 lead.

The Warriors rallied to tie it on an RBI triple by Bettorf in the top of the sixth. Sami Gehring was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. One out later, she scored on Bettorf's triple.

The Warriors made a key defensive play with Baskin on second with one out in the bottom of the ninth. Null flied out to Marler. Then, Marler threw to third, attempting to throw out Baskin. But her throw skipped past Kelsi Coats, who was playing third base. Baskin attempted to score, but Coats quickly recovered the ball near the Oilers' dugout and threw her out.

Tanksley suffered the loss on the mound, striking out eight and giving up two hits in 10 innings of work.

Granite City also lost a pair of players to injury – Marler and Savannah Gibson. Gibson, who started at third base, injured her left leg while she was on the on-deck circle in the top of the seventh, forcing the game to be delayed for several minutes. Marler sat out with an injury after the bottom of the ninth.

The Warriors lost their third straight game and dropped to 5-12. They will play a home game against East St. Louis at 4:30 p.m. Thursday.

Granite City and EA-WR were originally scheduled to play on April 3, but it was postponed due to rain.