MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.- Eastern University Softball picked up a pair of wins in day two of their spring break trip to South Carolina. Janelle Fair battled to a 1-0 win in the early game against Penn State Harrisburg. The Eagles took a different approach in the second game as they mashed five extra base hits in a 10-3 win over Bluefield College.
Fair scattered five hits through her first start in the circle for the year, but going into the fifth inning the game remained tied. Michelle Morongell broke the tie with a towering two-out home run to left center field. The home run was the only extra-base hit of the contest for the Eagles.
The Lions mounted rallies in the fifth and the sixth, but Fair and the Eastern defense were able to keep the slate clean. After surrendering a leadoff double in the fifth, Fair got the next two batters to pop out and ground out before striking out the final batter of the inning. Fair struck out five Lions in earning the win.
The Eagles left a pair on in the sixth before the Lions loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning. Theresa Esposito tracked down a deep fly by to center to end the inning. Fair faced the minimum in the seventh to complete the shutout.
Eastern needed more offense in the second game as they played another NAIA squad. The Bluefield College Rams answered a two-run first from the Eagles with two of their own. Esposito created the first Eastern run of the game with a single to right and a stolen base.
The Eastern leadoff hitter advanced to third on a ground out and scored on a Morongell single. Maggie McGowan blasted a double off the top of the right field wall and Morongell scored on a deep fly ball from Fair.
The Rams answered with a pair off Eastern starter Krisitne Rosko, but the Eagles responded with three more runs in the second inning. Tori Jacobson started the rally with a double and Megan Polulak moved her along with a single. Esposito hit a fly ball to right to drive in Jacobson. Jaclyn Gangemi singled to build the Eastern lead to 4-2. McGowan drove in the final run of the inning with her second double of the day.
Bluefield's catcher turned on an inside fastball in the bottom of the inning to trim the deficit to 5-3, and then the two offenses slowed down for a bit. Eastern put the game out of reach with a five-run sixth. McGowan and Jaimie Schwartz each recorded two RBIs in the breakout inning. McGowan smacked a two-run homer over the center field fence, and Schwartz tripled down the right field line to close out the scoring for the day.
Rosko finished with two strikeouts to balance her season record at 1-1. The Eagles return to action tomorrow with games against Randolph College and Southern Vermont.
