ST. DAVIDS, Pa.– After dropping the opening game of the doubleheader, Eastern University Softball finished the season with a 5-2 win over the visiting Delaware Valley University Aggies in a game set aside to honor seniors
Kelsey Clever and
Haleigh Williams.
The team honored the two players between games and both players figured in the result. Williams came on in relief to get the final out of the game. Despite playing with a broken finger on her right hand, Clever had a perfect relay on the final play and went 2-for-3 at the plate with 2 RBI's and a run scored.
The Aggies scored first in the third inning, but the Eagles answered on a perfectly executed squeeze bunt from
Rebecca Howard. The freshman outfielder dropped a bunt with Clever on the move. She then took second when the base was left unguarded. The Eagles, however, were not able to take the lead until the fourth.
Leah Lozzi smacked a solid single up the middle to start the rally. the sophomore outfielder advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on a
Taylor Crown single. The Eagles eventually put two runners in scoring position with one out. Clever drove in Crown with a ground ball out to the right side.
The Eagles tacked on runs in the fifth and sixth innings. The run in the sixth came on Clever's final collegiate at bat. She finishes her four-year career with 105 hits and 50 RBI's. After playing first base for much of the game, Clever switched positions with
Alyssa Bolger to finish her career where she spent much of it.
After the Aggies put two on with one out, Clever fielded a ground ball in the hole and got the lead runner at third to bring the Eagles to within an out of the win. Head Coach
Claire Emplit brought Williams in to get the final out. She replaced
Melissa Irick with two runners on. Williams, who had pitched in the first game, was greeted warmly by her teammates.
The first Delaware Valley hitter she faced drove a ball just out of Lozzi's reach in left. The leftfielder took the ball off the fence and hit Clever in the cut-off spot for a perfect relay to Crown to end the game.
Eastern had a 3-2 lead in the fourth inning of the opener, but the Aggies scored three runs on two hits and two errors to pull ahead to a 5-3 lead. The Eagles managed just one base-runner the rest of the way.
Williams and Clever will both graduate next Saturday. Coach Emplit and her team are grateful for the leadership of those two players over the past two years. Thirteen of sixteen Eastern players are in their first or second year in the program.
