CLERMONT, Fla.– On their third day of games in Florida, Eastern University Softball battled for a split through a pair of hard-fought games against York College. The Spartans (5-3) pulled away to a 6-2 win in the opener before the Eagles (2-4) jumped to a 4-0 lead in the nightcap and held on for a 4-3 victory in cooler than expected Florida weather.
Emily Loomis doubled to drive in
Rebecca Howard with one out in the first inning of game two. Howard walked to lead off the game and moved to second on a well-executed sacrifice from
Madeline Iswalt. The Eagles loaded the bases with a walk and hit-by-pitch, but they were unable to to increase their edge in the first.
Lexi Evelyn worked around a double in the second inning to bring her side back up to the plate with a 1-0 lead. The Eagles built the rally off a
Jess Snader lead-off double. Maggie Fleming walked, and Howard reached on an error to load the bases again. This time, with no one out, the Eagles were able to execute for two runs. Iswalt plated the first with a single through the right side, and Loomis picked up her fifth RBI of the year on a productive ground out to first.
The Eagles added another run in the top of the fourth on a
Taylor Crown ground out.
Evelyn kept York off balance until the fourth when the the Spartans turned a lead-off double into two runs. She did well to limit the damage, as York had runners on second and third with no one out. She induced a ground ball back to the circle and a pair of short fly balls to get out of the jam. The Spartans added another run in the fifth and put base-runners on each of the final two innings, but Evelyn escaped the jams to earn her first win of the year. She struck out seven while scattering four hits.
Sami Britton pitched in the opener and kept things close through the early part of the game. The Spartans picked up a pair of runs in the fifth and an unearned run in the sixth to to lead 4-1 with only one inning to go. The Spartans plated two and the Eagles could only score once in the seventh for the final margin. Howard had both RBI's in the game for the Eagles.
The game-two win snapped a seven-gam losing streak against the Spartans. In the six games between the teams over the past three years, the Spartans had outscored the Eagles 44-5
Coach Birchmeier Says:
"In game one, we gave them extra outs. Sami competed the whole way and we were making contact, but we couldn't string it all together. In game two, we did all of the little things. Lexi and Sabrina Thomas worked hard and well as a unit and had the confidence to take risks. They knew the team was behind them all the way. The big thing is when York started making contact, we didn't back down and we didn't give up. It is so good to see this team begin to believe in themselves. There were several moments where we could have let that game get away, but they did not. I am proud of the way we competed all day."
Up Next:
The Eagles wrap up their Florida swing with a pair of games against teams from the Midwest. They will play Carthage in the morning ans match up against Concordia Moorhead in the afternoon. Eastern beat Concordia on Monday.
