ROCHELLE — Freshman Bella Lodico has been Rochelle’s go-to pitcher since coming up from the fresh-soph level earlier this season, and Lodico put forward another solid effort on the mound when the Lady Hubs varsity softball team battled Sycamore at home on Friday.

Lodico tossed five innings against the Spartans after throwing in Rochelle’s game against LaSalle-Peru on Thursday. The freshman struck out four batters and allowed just five runs to a powerful Sycamore offense, but the Spartans ignited for a crooked number in the sixth inning, scoring 11 runs and cruising to a 16-2 win over Rochelle. The Lady Hubs fall to 2-10 overall with the loss.

“Bella’s been throwing the ball really well for us,” head coach Lindsay Suess said. “We just fell into a situation where she had been throwing a lot this week and we still have two more games coming up this weekend, so we needed to save her arm.”

Sycamore took a 1-0 lead in the first inning before adding two more runs in the second inning to pull ahead 3-0. Rochelle put two runners on base in the bottom of the third inning after Lodico tossed a scoreless frame, with seniors Faith Roush and Britney Salinas hitting singles.

But the Lady Hubs were unable to capitalize, and Sycamore added runs in each of the next two innings to go up 5-0. Junior Maddi O’Rorke singled for Rochelle in the fourth inning, and junior Becca Bunger reached on a hit-by-pitch in the fifth inning.

“We just need to stay consistent and have good at-bats,” Suess said. “We need to swing at good pitches and make hard contact with those pitches.”

Sycamore’s 11-run outburst in the sixth inning put the Spartans well ahead by a score of 16-0. Needing seven runs to extend the game, Rochelle began the bottom of the sixth with a double by senior Jessie Meyers and a single by senior Teddi Hacaga. Both runners scored on a two-RBI single by Roush, but the Lady Hubs were unable to do any more damage. Rochelle will play two games at Mendota this weekend.