Monmouth College

Scots Walked Off at Cornell, Drop Pair

by Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, Ill. (04/23/2026) — The Monmouth College softball team lost a pair of Midwest Conference games at Cornell on Wednesday 6-2 and 5-4. The Fighting Scots (13-21, 6-6) led game two 4-2 with two outs in the seventh before being walked off 5-4 and are now one game behind the Rams (19-11, 7-5) for fourth place in the standings.

GAME ONE

Karliegh Ashby (Monmouth, Illinois) led off with a walk and scored from second on a single by Savannah Powers (Volo, Illinois). Powers was out at second on the hit but the Scots led 1-0 after a half inning. Alyssa Hefflefinger (Olin, Iowa) stranded a Rams runner at second base as she finished the first inning with a strikeout.

The Scots kept the 1-0 lead until the fourth. Cornell led off with a double and tied the game on a single. Another single put runners on the corners before a stolen base. The Rams took the lead on a RBI groundout and made it 3-1 with a single.

Elizabeth Waymire (Havana, Illinois) reached second on an error to start the fifth and she moved to third on a wild pitch. Ashby grounded out and Waymire scored to cut the Rams lead to 3-2.

Cornell responded with three in the fifth to extend the lead. Consecutive one-out doubles made it 4-2 before a sac fly added a run. A 2-out single added another run for a 6-2 Rams lead.

The Scots went in order in the sixth and still trailed 6-2 when Maddie Hepner (Alexis, Illinois) singled with one out in the seventh. Cornell retired the next two batters to end the game.

Hefflefinger (4-8) took the loss with six runs allowed on nine hits over five innings as she struck out two. Lydia Overcash (Farmington, Illinois) threw a shutout inning with two hits allowed.

GAME TWO

After a scoreless first inning, Mackenzie Gerard (Jacksonville, Illinois) led off the top of the second with a double. Graci Guenther (Pekin, Illinois) put the Scots on top with a double but she was left in scoring position. Cornell tied the game in the bottom of the inning against Overcash with three straight 2-out hits.

Ashby led off the third with a single and Powers singled with one out. Gerard was hit by a pitch and Brooklyn Millhollin (Peoria, Illinois) cleared the bases with a double for a 4-1 Monmouth lead.

A triple and sacrifice fly in the bottom of the third cut the Scots lead to 4-2. Neither team threatened in the fourth or fifth. Cornell put a runner on in the sixth against reliever Elizabeth Durfee (Arlington, Washington),.but a double play ended the inning.

The Rams led off the seventh with a single to bring the tying run to the plate. Durfee got a strikeout and a flyout before a single put two runners on base. Down to their last out, Cornell tied the game with a triple and won it with an infield single.

Durfee (4-6) took the loss, allowing three runs on six hits over 3 2/3 innings while striking out two. Overcash allowed two runs on five hits over three innings in a no-decision.

MONMOUTH MOMENTS: Powers had a hit in both games ... Ashby scored in both games ... Millhollin had her fourth multi-RBI game of the season ... She is second on the team in doubles (8) and RBI (23) ... Powers leads the team with 26 RBI, one away from being in the top 10 in a season ... The series is tied 42-42 all-time but Cornell has won eight in a row dating back to a Monmouth DH sweep on May 1, 2022 ... The Scots last won in Mount Vernon on March, 31, 2019 ... The Scots host Grinnell for a Noon DH on Saturday ... Saturday is also Senior Day.