Nashville 3, Sparta 0
After opening the season on a 6-0 win streak the Sparta Lady Bulldogs have dropped four straight while the bats have been slumping. Nashville (14-1) handed the Bulldogs a 3-0 loss at Sparta High School Tuesday to drop their River-to-River conference record to 0-3. 
Hornette first baseman, Breanne Pelker led off the second inning with a towering home run down the left field foul line that proved to be enough runs. However, the Hornettes added two insurance runs in the top of the sixth inning.
Sparta had leadoff hitters reach in three innings; however, after the first inning, no runner advanced past second base as the bats went silent. Jade Vaughn led off the first with a bunt single while Jamie Woodworth got her leadoff hit in the fourth inning. Taylor Craig added the other single to the offense in the sixth inning
“We knew our conference was loaded this year and that combination to go along with an offensive slump is really taking a toll with these tough losses,” said Sparta coach Roger Gerlach. “You just have to keep plugging along and hopefully someone will step up and turn things around. We’ll be alright, we have enough talent that I still have confidence in these kids.”
Alexis Kohrs took the loss going the distance striking out 7 while walking just one.   
Sparta gets right back into conference play traveling to Du Quoin to take on the Lady Indians Friday.
Red Bud 5, Lebanon 0
Tara Hubert went six strong innings allowing no runs on just six hits to lead Red Bud past Lebanon 5-0 Saturday. Hubert was also a big part offensively for the Lady Musketeers, going 1-for-2 with two RBI.
Red Bud opened the game with three runs in the bottom half of the first inning and then added two more in the second.
Gibault 7, Trico 4
Gibault rallied to tie the game in the seventh inning and claim a 7-4 victory in the eighth inning over Trico Saturday.
The Lady Pioneers opened up the scoring with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning.
Gibault tied the game 2-2 with two runs in the third, and then claimed a slim lead with a run in the fourth.
Trico battled back to score two more runs in the fifth for the 4-3 lead.
The Lady Hawks scored a run in the seventh and three in the eighth for the three-run decision.
Jordan Lodge received the loss for Trico.
Lodge was 2-for-4 with a home run and three runs batted in to lead the offense, while Kourtney Bunselmeyer was 3-for-3. Other top hitters for Trico included Katie Taylor (2-for-4), Chloe Thies (2-for-4) and Ashley Modglin (2-for-4).
Carterville 2, Sparta 1
For the second conference game in a row, Sparta falls in extra innings with a 2-1 defeat against Carterville Friday.
Having lost to AJ in a tie-breaker by one run, as well, the near miss feelings endured by the Lady Bulldogs continued this week. 
Sparta fell behind in the top of the sixth when Carterville’s Carly Callahan led off with a single and came around to score on a Chelsea Presley double. That appeared to be all the Lady Lions would need as the Lady Bulldog offense was being held in check by winning pitcher Sarah DeRosa, who allowed three hits and just one run. 
Sparta’s Alexis Kohrs reached on a fielder’s choice in the bottom of the seventh inning and stole second and home to tie the score and send the game into extra innings. Carterville got the big two-out RBI in the top of the eighth inning from Mollie Thomas, as she delivered a run scoring single. 
Sparta answered with what appeared to be the game tying run in the bottom of the eighth inning when Jenalee Stine was sacrificed to third by Taylor Craig. Then Jade Vaughn hit a low line drive up the middle that appeared to have been trapped by the pitcher, and as a result, the home plate umpire ruled it not a catch thus tying the score at two.
However, after conferring with the base umpire, the play was overturned and the umpire forced the runner to go back to third base. Jaime Woodworth ended the game with a fly out to center field, dropping the Bulldog conference record to 0-2 and overall to 6-3.
“I really am disappointed with the result,” said Sparta coach Roger Gerlach. “We battled so hard today and to have that crazy of an ending is hard to swallow. I am proud of the girls and the effort they put out today and feel that we did put ourselves in position to win but just could not get that key hit we needed.”
Red Bud 9, Okawville 0
Ciara Schaefer tossed a complete game shutout to lead Red Bud over Okawville 9-0 Friday.
The Lady Musketeers’ offense scored runs in the first, third, fifth and sixth innings for the nine-run decision.
Andrea Hartmann was 2-for-2 with a double, a triple and three RBI to pace the attack. Amy Koester was 2-for-4 with two runs driven home in the win.
Pinckneyville 11, Du Quoin 7
Pinckneyville cranked out 11 runs on 14 hits to top Du Quoin 11-7 Friday.
Taylor Kuhnert and Shersty Stanton combined for five hits and seven RBI to lead the potent Lady Panther offense. Kuhnert was 3-for-4 with four RBI and Stanton was 2-for-3 with a double, a home run and three RBI.
Sara Malanowski earned the victory
Woodlawn 8, Marissa-Coulterville 0
Marissa-Coulterville was held to just three hits, as Woodlawn used a big third inning to roll to an 87-0 win Friday in nonconference softball action.
Ashley Lehman got the loss, while Abbie Lehman, Corey Pitchford and Chelsea Weekley all had a hit in the loss.
Trico 11, Chester 0
Trico scored 11 runs on 11 hits en route to an 11-0 victory over Chester in five innings Thursday. The game was the conference opener for both teams.
The Lady Pioneers scored five runs in the first and added six in the second. Courtney Brandon (2-1) tossed all five innings allowing just five hits to pick up the win. She also went 3-for-3 with an RBI on the day.
Also for the Trico offense were Katie Taylor (2-for-3), Kaylee Boland (2-for-3) and Kourtney Bunselmeyer (2-for-3 with two RBI).
With the win, Trico improved to 4-6 on the season and 1-0 in the Black Diamond.
Taylor Gross suffered the loss for the Lady Yellow Jackets. Ashley Andrews, Katie Roth, Taylor Gross, Morgan Colvis and Lacey Reynolds each collected a hit in the loss.
With the defeat, Chester dropped to 3-6 overall and 0-1 in conference play.
Marissa-Coulterville 17, Dupo 2
Marissa-Coulterville scored 10 runs in the fourth inning to roll over Dupo 17-2 Thursday in Cahokia Conference Kaskaskia Division softball action.
Corey Pitchford and Chelsea Weekley each had two hits and three RBI to lead the Lady Meteor offense, while Abbie Lehman drove in two.
Ashley Lehman earned the win, tossing five innings allowing two runs, none earned, on three hits.
Columbia 3, Red Bud 2
Columbia tallied a single run in the bottom of the 10th inning to edge out Red Bud 3-2 Thursday.
Andrea Hartmann got the loss despite throwing nine plus strong innings allowing just three runs on seven hits, while striking out 11.
Tara Hubert had two hits on the day including a double, while Bianaca Durbin had a double and an RBI to pace the Lady Musketeers.