SOFTBALL: Du Quoin blanks Carlyle for fifth straight win

Du Quoin softball racked up their fifth straight win on Tuesday at Carlyle, blanking the purple and gold Lady Indians 9-0 on eleven hits and a shutout in the circle by Marisa Ferguson, who allowed five hits and a walk and struck out eight.

"Ferguson was outstanding in the circle and we played some great defense behind her, highlighted by (center fielder Mackenzie) Jackson robbing a home run and flipping over the fence," said DHS head softball coach Jason James. "We are also starting to put things together at the plate, I think eleven hits is close to our season high. The ladies are really starting to look confident at the right time of the season."

Ferguson really only ran into serious trouble one time - in the bottom of the first inning. Carlyle had a pair of two-out base hits in that at-bat, but Ferguson got a big strikeout to end the threat.

Du Quoin's offense carried the momentum into the top of the second, when they scored four times on four singles, a walk and a hit batter. Jordyn Bullar, Ferguson, and Amanda Atteberry each had RBIs in the inning.

Four more DHS runs crossed home plate in the third as the first four batters all reached base safely. Timbra Mansfield (two-run single), Amber Williams (double) and Jackson (ground-out) had RBIs in the third as Du Quoin pushed its lead to 8-0.

Ferguson handled it from there with a little help from Jackson, who snatched Carlyle's best chance at a run out of the air in the bottom of the fourth before tumbling over the fence.

Bullar (3-5, R, RBI), Ferguson (2-3, BB, HBP), Atteberry (1-4, RBI), Mansfield (1-4, R, 2 RBI), Williams (1-3, R, RBI, 2B, HBP), Sydney Lewis (2-4, 2 R) and Hannah Marek (1-1) hit safely for Du Quoin.

DHS (17-14) has added a game at Steeleville on Wednesday, then travels to Murphysboro on Thursday. They'll be at Harrisburg this Saturday to wrap up the regular season with a round-robin tournament beginning at 11:00 a.m.