MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - Eastern Softball split on its final day in South Carolina defeating Penn St. Harrisburg 5-3 before falling to Rhode Island College 10-3. The Eagles used a four-run fourth inning to come back and defeat Penn State Harrisburg.

"We played well in the first game, but we just didn't play up to our potential in the second game," said Head Coach Claire Emplit. "We did some nice things today but did some bad things as well."  

Penn State Harrisburg (0-1) jumped out to an early 2-0 lead scoring twice in the top of the first inning. After recording two straight outs, back-to-back doubles by the Nittany Lions led to the first run crossing the plate. A single the very next at bat by Jackie Furch scored another run to stretch the lead to 2-0.   

Eastern (3-5) tacked on a run in the bottom of the third. Two straight singles by Alyssa Welsh and Ashton Tomlinson gave the Eagles runners on first and second. Deanna Laughman then singled to plate Welsh to cut the deficit to 2-1.

Leah Lozzi led off the bottom of the fourth inning with a single before advancing to second after Erin Johnson grounded out to third. Haleigh Williams singled the very next at-bat to score Lozzi tying the game at 2-2. Welsh then singled advancing Williams to second before another single by Tomlinson loaded the bases for Eastern. Kasey Williams then reached on a fielding error but scoring three runs on the play to give the Eagles a 5-2 lead.

"That was a great inning for us," continued Emplit. "We executed perfectly, and it led to great results for us."

Eastern held the three-run advantage until the top of the seventh inning. A leadoff double by Emily Parmer followed by an Erin Tirko groundout advanced Parmer to third base with one out. A groundout to second drove in Parmer cutting the Eagles lead to just 5-3. A line out two batters later closed out the game giving Eastern the win.

In the second game of the day, Eastern struggled offensively falling 10-3 to Rhode Island College. The Anchormen used a combined nine-run fourth and fifth inning to earn the victory.

The Eagles jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first inning. Deanna Laughman and Kasey Williams each reached safely to lead off the bottom of the first inning. A single by Taylor Crown followed by a passed ball scored back-to-back runs giving Eastern the 2-0 advantage. A Kelsey Clever sacrifice fly plated Crown making the score 3-0 one batter later.

In the top of the fourth, the game was flipped completely when Rhode Island College tacked on six runs. After the first two batters had reached base safely, a single scored the Anchormen's first run cutting the deficit to 3-1. A double by Chelsea Schott three batters later plated two runs tying the game at 3-3. A passed ball and a two-RBI single stretched the Rhode Island lead to 6-3.

The Anchormen plated three more runs one inning extending their lead all the to 9-3. A fielding error and RBI groundout led to back-to-back runs before another fielding error plated the third and final run of the inning.

"Not a great way to end the week for us," concluded Emplit. "We just didn't play up to our potential, and we have to learn from that. We will be better for this week and the experiences we gained."

Eastern hosts York College on March 12th at 11 am and 1 pm.