Lady Indians win fourth in a row, blowout Crab Orchard 10-0

The Lady Indians notched their fourth in a row Tuesday evening, using a big seven-run second inning to beat Crab Orchard in five innings, 10-0. <br />Mackenzie Jackson was nearly perfect on the mound for Du Quoin.<br />After allowing a two-out double to in the top of the first, Jackson retired the remaining 13 batters she saw, finishing with just one hit allowed, no walks and five strikeouts. <br />"She talked to me today and she wanted to get some things figured out and I think she did," Du Quoin head coach Jason James said. "She threw well, hit her spots and got some come-backers (and) a few strikeouts when she needed it. She's (been) throwing well for us."<br />The Lady Indians got on the board early and often. Katie Smith came around to score in the first inning on an RBI groundout from Morgan Bullar to take the early 1-0 lead. <br />In the second inning, Sadie Day and Meryn Gross led off with a double and walk, respectively. Olivia Whitley plated them both the next at bat with a double to left.<br />McKinnies followed up with a walk and Smith knocked home Whitley on a groundout to increase their lead to 4-0.<br />McKinnies came around to score on an error, while Grace Haney and Chloe Hill each came up with RBI doubles. Gross tacked on one more run in the second with an RBI single to score Day, extending the lead to 8-0. <br />Gross came around to score in the fourth on an RBI single from McKinnies and Jackson scored the mercy-rule clinching run in the fifth on a two-single from Sadie Day.<br />All nine Lady Indian hitters reached base in the contest, collecting 11 hits total. <br />"That's what we talked about, just getting up there and hitting the ball one through nine today," James said. "Everybody is hitting the ball, getting on base, (doing) something productive and that's just where you want to be going into the season, getting into the regional. <br />"Hopefully, that's something we can keep doing." <br />Du Quoin (17-10) will look to make it five wins in a row Wednesday (today), hosting a remake with Herrin at 4:30 p.m., weather permitting. <br />Herrin comes into the game sitting at 20-2 on the season. <br />"(It is a) big matchup with Herrin tomorrow, we will put the tarp on and see if we can get it (the field) ready to go," James said. "It will good be a good test for us."