{"id":146866,"date":"2026-02-07T03:30:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-07T03:30:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/146866\/"},"modified":"2026-02-07T03:30:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T03:30:12","slug":"redbirds-fall-to-kansas-no-6-florida-on-day-two-in-tampa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/146866\/","title":{"rendered":"Redbirds Fall to Kansas, No. 6 Florida on Day Two in Tampa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>                    &#13;<br \/>\n                        &#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<\/p>\n<p>                <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/michigan_logo_200x200.png\" alt=\"Michigan\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                Next Game:<\/p>\n<p>vs. Michigan<\/p>\n<p>2\/7\/2026 | 8 a.m.<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n                    Feb. 07 (Sat) \/ 8 a.m.&#13;\n                <\/p>\n<p>                    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sidearm-story-template-next-game-opponent-logo\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/michigan_logo_200x200.png\" alt=\"Michigan\"\/><\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n                        vs.\u00a0Michigan&#13;\n                    <\/p>\n<p>                             &#13;<\/p>\n<p>TAMPA, Fla. &#8212;\u00a0The Illinois State softball team dropped two games at the USF-Rawlings Tournament on Friday, as the Redbirds fell to Kansas, 13-5, in five innings before losing to No. 6 Florida, 7-0, in the nightcap.<\/p>\n<p>ISU posted a late offensive push but came up short in against Kansas in game one on Friday. The Redbirds scored in the first and added four runs in the fifth before the game concluded via run rule.<\/p>\n<p>The Redbirds fell to top-10 Florida in the second game of the day. After a scoreless first inning, the Gators scored in the next four frames and held the Redbirds to one hit to secure the win.<\/p>\n<p>BIRDS BITS (Game 1 vs. Kansas)<\/p>\n<p>Offensive Highlights:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/goredbirds.com\/sports\/softball\/roster\/tatum-wolford\/14958\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"14958\" target=\"_blank\">Tatum Wolford<\/a>: 2-for-2, RBI, 2 R, 1 BB<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/goredbirds.com\/sports\/softball\/roster\/morgan-calhoun\/15112\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"15112\" target=\"_blank\">Morgan Calhoun<\/a>: 1-for-2, RBI, 1 BB<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/goredbirds.com\/sports\/softball\/roster\/bella-atkinson\/14946\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"14946\" target=\"_blank\">Bella Atkinson<\/a>: 1-for-3, RBI, 1 R<\/p>\n<p>Pitching Breakdown:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/goredbirds.com\/sports\/softball\/roster\/hannah-meeks\/14955\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"14955\" target=\"_blank\">Hannah Meeks<\/a> (L, 0-1): 4.1 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 1 K<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/goredbirds.com\/sports\/softball\/roster\/gracelyn-kemp\/14952\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"14952\" target=\"_blank\">Gracelyn Kemp<\/a>: 0.2 IP, 8 H, 9 R, 9 ER, 1 BB, 1 K<\/p>\n<p>HOW IT HAPPENED<\/p>\n<p>The Jayhawks struck first with two runs in the top of the first inning. ISU responded with one run in the bottom half when Wolford scored on a passed ball. The score remained 2-1 until the Kansas offense totaled 10 runs on 10 hits, including a three-run dinger, in the fourth frame. The Jayhawks extended their lead with a solo home run in the fifth. The Birds continued to battle, plating four runs in the bottom of the fifth behind RBI singles from sophomore <a href=\"https:\/\/goredbirds.com\/sports\/softball\/roster\/tatum-wolford\/14958\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"14958\" target=\"_blank\">Tatum Wolford<\/a>, senior <a href=\"https:\/\/goredbirds.com\/sports\/softball\/roster\/bella-atkinson\/14946\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"14946\" target=\"_blank\">Bella Atkinson<\/a> and freshman <a href=\"https:\/\/goredbirds.com\/sports\/softball\/roster\/morgan-calhoun\/15112\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"15112\" target=\"_blank\">Morgan Calhoun<\/a>, but the rally fell short as the game ended via run rule, 13-5.<\/p>\n<p>BIRDS BITS (Game 2 vs. Florida)<\/p>\n<p>Offensive Highlights:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/goredbirds.com\/sports\/softball\/roster\/bella-atkinson\/14946\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"14946\" target=\"_blank\">Bella Atkinson<\/a>: 1-for-3<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/goredbirds.com\/sports\/softball\/roster\/morgan-calhoun\/15112\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"15112\" target=\"_blank\">Morgan Calhoun<\/a>: 0-for-2, 1 BB<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/goredbirds.com\/sports\/softball\/roster\/taylor-liebelt\/15113\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"15113\" target=\"_blank\">Taylor Liebelt<\/a>: 0-for-1, 1 BB, HBP<\/p>\n<p>Pitching Breakdown:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/goredbirds.com\/sports\/softball\/roster\/paige-mcleod\/14954\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"14954\" target=\"_blank\">Paige McLeod<\/a> (L, 1-1): 4.0 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 0 K<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/goredbirds.com\/sports\/softball\/roster\/hannah-meshnick\/14956\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"14956\" target=\"_blank\">Hannah Meshnick<\/a>: 3.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K<\/p>\n<p>HOW IT HAPPENED<\/p>\n<p>Florida scored two runs in the second, one in the third, three in the fourth and one in the fifth to earn a 7-0 victory over ISU. Senior <a href=\"https:\/\/goredbirds.com\/sports\/softball\/roster\/bella-atkinson\/14946\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"14946\" target=\"_blank\">Bella Atkinson<\/a> recorded the Redbirds&#8217; lone hit in the seventh frame, while freshman <a href=\"https:\/\/goredbirds.com\/sports\/softball\/roster\/taylor-liebelt\/15113\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"15113\" target=\"_blank\">Taylor Liebelt<\/a> reached base twice and freshman <a href=\"https:\/\/goredbirds.com\/sports\/softball\/roster\/morgan-calhoun\/15112\" rel=\"smarttag nofollow noopener\" rev=\"15112\" target=\"_blank\">Morgan Calhoun<\/a> also walked. The Redbirds struck out 11 times in the contest.<\/p>\n<p>ON DECK<\/p>\n<p>The Redbirds will wrap up play at the USF-Rawlings Tournament on Saturday at 8 a.m. CT against Michigan.<\/p>\n<p>For updates on Illinois State Softball, follow the Redbirds on Twitter (@RedbirdsSB), Instagram (@redbirdsoftball), and Facebook (Illinois State Redbird Softball).<\/p>\n<p>GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App: \u00a0Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Athletic Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"&#13; &#13; &#13; Next Game: vs. Michigan 2\/7\/2026 | 8 a.m. &#13; Feb. 07 (Sat) \/ 8 a.m.&#13;&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":146867,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":["post-146866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146866","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146866"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146866\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/146867"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}