DECATUR, Ill. – Parkland softball earned doubleheader split on Wednesday night at Millikin JV, dropping a 6-5 decision in game one before rebounding for a 11-5 win in game two. Led by four-hit nights from Emma Newton and Kate Beckemeyer, as well as seven innings in the circle from Beckemeyer, the Cobras are now 23-15 on the season.

Hitting her ninth home run of the season in game one and driving in three runs in game two, Emma Newton led the team in hits (4), RBI (4) while also scoring three runs. With nine RBI in the last six games, Newton has 42 runs batted in on the season which ranked 16^th in NJCAA DII entering the day.

In the circle for the win in game two, Beckemeyer pitched seven innings for her third victory of the season. The Cobra right-hander allowed three earned runs while striking out seven in her third complete game. After the Cobras took a 10-0 lead in the second inning, Beckemeyer didn't allow a hit in the following three innings. Beckemeyer backed her own efforts with two hits, including a double, two runs and an RBI. Beckemeyer also recorded two hits in game one and drove in a run.

Up next, Parkland will travel to face Lincoln Land on Friday, April 19, for a doubleheader at 3 p.m. central time. The Cobras swept the Loggers by run rule (11-1, 8-0) in Tuesday's doubleheader in Champaign.

Game 1: Parkland 5, Millikin JV 6

Tori Witruk and Kirbie Mendenhall combined for 6.2 innings in the circle, only allowing one earned run, but Millikin came from behind twice to defeat the Cobras in the bottom of the seventh.

Trailing 2-0 after the first inning, Newton got the Cobra offense going with a home run to center field to lead off the second inning. The homer is the ninth of the season for Newton.

A two-out single by Millikin in the bottom of the third pushed the deficit back to two runs, but a three-run top of the fourth gave Parkland their first lead of the night. With Camryn Skundberg still standing at second base with two out after a lead-off double, the Cobras strung together four straight hits to score three runs. Witruk helped her own cause by trading places with Skundberg on an RBI double. The Cobra hurler then came home with the tying run on a Mackenzie Ruppert RBI single, and then Ruppert brought home the go-ahead run on a Bre Riemenschneider single.

Parkland protected the lead by holding Millikin scoreless in the fourth, but an error and single gave the hosts the lead, 5-4, in the fifth.

Continuing to battle, the Cobras, again, tied the game in the seventh inning. Driving in the run was Kate Beckemeyer who hit a one-out single to score Quattro after Quattro led off the inning with her second hit of the game.

Millikin broke the tie for the final time in the bottom half of the inning, using a walk, a steal and a passed ball to score the winning run.

Game 2: Parkland 11, Millikin JV 5

The Cobras rebounded in game two to defeat the Big Blue behind a 13-hit attack that saw Parkland plate 10 of its 11 runs in the first two innings.

Starting pitcher Kate Beckemeyer helped herself before even entering the circle, hitting a lead-off double to spark a two-run top of the first. Newton drove Beckemeyer in with a single for her, and then scored the second run on a passed ball.

After Summer Johnson threw out a would-be base stealer to help Beckemeyer work around two singles to start the inning, the Cobras added eight runs to their tally in the second frame. The Cobras scored the first run without a hit, and then two more came home when Newton hit a single to center with runners on second and third for her third and fourth RBI of the night. Newton then came around to score on an RBI single by Summer Johnson, and then was followed by Bella Coffey who scored on a Millikin error. A sacrifice fly by Quattro drove in Johnson to make it 8-0, and then Lauren Wendling and Beckemeyer hit back-to-back singles to conclude the eight runs on five hits.

Backed with 10 runs of support, Beckemeyer didn't allow a hit over the next three innings. Millikin scored unearned run in the third, and then tallied two more runs in the fifth on a two-out double to thwart off the run rule. Millikin would add a fourth run in the sixth, but Beckemeyer escaped without any further damage.

Leading 10-4, Summer Johnson added another insurance run in the seventh. With Riemenschneider on first as a pinch runner, Johnson hit a double to center to plate the 11^th run of the game.