BETHLEHEM, Pa – Eastern Softball was swept on Thursday afternoon by host No. 19 Moravian College falling by scores of 5-1 and 9-5. The Eagles were held in check offensively in the first game and were unable to hold on in game two as the Greyhounds rallied back to earn the win. 

Eastern (10-22) totaled a combined 12 hits on the afternoon, notching 10 of those hits in game two. Haleigh Williams fell to 5-11 on the season going six innings allowing eight hits, five runs, three of which were earned while recording one strikeout. 

"Overall I thought the girls stepped up to the challenge," said Head Coach Claire Emplit. "Moravian is a well disciplined, good hitting team. Our defense was solid throughout both games. The girls didn't seem phased by their opponents national ranking."  

Moravian (27-3) took an early 5-0 lead in game one using a four-run fourth inning to claim the victory. The Eagles struggled to get their offense going as they totaled one hit over the firs four innings of the game. 

Eastern got on the scoreboard in the fifth inning to pull within four of the Greyhounds. Kelsey Clever doubled to give the Eagles a runner in scoring position with one out in the top of the fifth inning. After a wild pitch had advanced Clever to third, Leah Lozzi plated Clever with an RBI groundout to make the score final at 5-1. 

The second game started off much differently as the Eagles found the scoreboard first with their third long ball of the season. Maria Day gave Eastern a 2-0 advantage in the top of the second inning when she homered to center field to score Lozzi as well. 

"In game two we talked about going up to bat confident and making adjustments," stated Emplit. "I think initially in game one we were a little over anxious to put the ball in play. In game two they adjusted and were more disciplined and waited for their pitch to hit. It made a big difference." 

The Greyhounds would trim the lead to just one in the bottom half of the inning, but a two-run top of the third would stretch the lead to three. The Eagles would load the bases for Morgan Burke, who drew a walk and plate Melissa Irick extending the lead to two. A passed ball the very next at-bat would score Clever to stretch the lead to 4-1. 

However, Moravian rallied back in the bottom half of the inning scoring four runs to take its first and only lead of the game at 5-4. Three more runs in the bottom of the fourth would stretch the Greyhounds advantage to four, 8-4. 

Back-to-back doubles in the top of the fifth inning by Clever and Lozzi plated one run to trim the deficit to just three, 8-5. Moravian would tack on one more run in the bottom of the sixth inning to make the score final at 9-5. 

Day finished the game going 1-3 with two RBI's and scoring one run while Clever went 2-4 scoring two runs.

"The team learned that they can face any challenge head on and be successful," concluded Emplit. "We have two important conference series coming up, and I think they are learning to trust each other on the field defensively and just take it one at-bat at a time offensively. They are learning to feed off each other's successes and are motivating each other."  

Eastern travels to DeSales on April 23rd for a 1 pm start.