SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Parkland softball dropped a pair of games (11-4, 8-6) at Lincoln Land on Saturday afternoon. The Cobras and Loggers finish the regular season series with a split, 2-2, record after Parkland swept a doubleheader in Champaign on Tuesday. The Saturday setback moves the Cobras' overall record to 23-17.

Right fielder Emma Newton led the Cobra lineup with her 10^th home run of the season to go along with two other RBI hits for a team-leading five RBI on the day and 47 on the season. Bella Coffey also had a multi-RBI day, driving in three runs between the two games.

Up next, Parkland returns home for the final 14 games of the regular season, beginning on Monday, April 22, when the Cobras host Kankakee in a 3 p.m. doubleheader. The game is a make-up of last Thursday's postponement.

Game 1: Parkland 4, Lincoln Land 11

The Cobras struck first, putting the first five runners on base to score a pair of runs before an out was recorded. Kate Beckemeyer led off with a walk, and then stole second to set up an RBI single by Bri Poehler. After two walks loaded the bases, Bella Coffey added the second run with a line drive up the middle.

After Lincoln Land took their first lead of the game, 3-2, Parkland turned a lead-off walk into a game-tying run in the top of the fourth. Kirbie Mendenhall reached on a 10-pitch walk, and then scored on an RBI double by Lauren Wendling.  

The Loggers retook the lead in the bottom half of the inning, 5-3, but the Cobras got a run back in the fifth. A Skundberg walk and Newton single to start the inning set up a Coffey sacrifice fly for the first baseman's second RBI of the game.

Trailing 7-4, the Cobras brought the go-ahead run to the plate in the top of the sixth, but were unable to convert. The Loggers tacked on four insurance runs in the sixth.

Game 2: Parkland 6, Lincoln Land 8

Falling behind 5-0 in the bottom of the second inning, the Cobras tallied two runs in the third to answer the five-run inning by the Loggers. The Cobras loaded the bases with only one out with two hit-by-pitches and a double by Poehler. Emma Newton singled home the first run, scoring Beckemeyer, followed by a sacrifice fly by Bella Coffey to bring home Poehler.

Starter Morgan Parrish held Lincoln Land without a hit over the next two innings, but the Loggers added three more runs to their lead in the fifth. Mendenhall relieved Parrish and recorded the final six outs of the day, allowing an unearned run.

The Cobras put together a late rally in the top of the seventh, beginning with back-to-back singles by Beckemeyer and Wendling. A third single by Skundberg drove in Beckemeyer, and then Newton unloaded her 10th home run of the season. The deficit cut to 8-6, Lincoln Land retired the next two batters to close out the game.