Kaneland 10, Batavia 2

By her own admission, Kaneland senior Maggie Yagen had been in a funk at the plate.

But the Knights' standout shortstop snapped out of it big time Tuesday afternoon in Batavia in Western Sun Conference softball action.

Yagen went 3-for-4 on the day, roping a pair of the Knights' 7 doubles while driving in 3 runs to lead Kaneland past Batavia 10-2.

Junior right-hander Mallory Huml went the distance, scattering 2 hits while not allowing an earned run to improve to 10-2 on the season.

With the victory, Kaneland (12-3, 5-2) remained two games within undefeated league leader Glenbard South; Batavia fell to 6-10, 3-3.

"I finally got comfortable (at the plate)," Yagen said. "I had been in a slump. We've been really good at adjusting to different types of pitchers."

The Knights' Vicki Mathieu plated Yagen in the first with the first of five opposite-field extra-base hits, and a second run scored on an infield error.

Huml breezed through her half of the first, and the Knights' bats responded once again in the second.

Chassidy Mangers, who also collected 3 of the Knights' 12 hits, had a one-out double; Yagen and Erica Kendrick then added two-baggers of their own, and the Kaneland lead suddenly swelled to 5-0.

"Up and down the lineup, we were hitting the ball well," Kaneland coach Dennis Hansen said.

Batavia freshman Brooke Nelson was summoned into the game to record the final out in the second, and the Bulldogs were subsequently able to build some momentum.

Nelson shut down the Knights' bats over the next four-plus innings, and Batavia reduced its deficit to 5-2 by parlaying consecutive Kaneland errors into a pair of runs in the third.

Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, Huml was equally stingy.

The Knights' junior ace eschewed the traditional route of flame-throwing dominance and used her defense as the backbone of her pitching attack.

Recording 3 strikeouts, the Knights' defense was flawless after their uncharacteristic back-to-back miscues in the third.

"That's Mallory's game -- she is not a big strikeout pitcher," Hansen said.

"I don't look forward to the next batter until I take care of the first one," Huml said.

Kaneland ended all drama in the top of the seventh, duplicating its 3-double second-inning performance to plate another 5 runs.

Kendrick narrowly missed a home run with a shot high off the left-field fence, and Yagen concluded the onslaught with yet another drive to the right-center gap to score Mangers and Sara Rose.

"It was a team loss, not only with our defense but with our offense as well," Batavia coach Leon Pedraza said.

Katie Luetkens and Christine Lyman had the only hits for Batavia.