SWARTHMORE, Pa. - Following an eight-day layoff, Eastern Softball picked up a pair of victories over regional foe Swarthmore on Thursday evening. The Eagles took game one, 6-5, in eight innings, before securing the doubleheader sweep with a 4-3 win in game two after the contest was called due to darkness in the fifth inning.
The Garnet (6-4) struck first in game one as Flannery McFadden scored on a wild pitch and Olivia McClammy homered. Eastern answered back in the top of the second, as both
Brianna Bowles and
Elena Iannuzzelli were hit by pitches with the bases loaded. Swarthmore briefly regained the lead on a bases-loaded walk, but
Jania Long scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the third to tie the contest at 3-3.
In the fourth inning,
Mackenzie Laub led off with a single before stealing second base and eventually scoring on a Swarthmore fielding error, which put the Eagles ahead 4-3. The Garnet, however, were able regain the advantage with a pair of RBI singles from Cassidy Cheong and Emily Bertrand in the bottom of the fifth frame.
Laub was again the centerpiece of another Eastern rally in the sixth inning. The first-year outfielder hit a single to right field, before moving to second on a passed ball and third on a wild pitch. In her second appearance of the season, fellow first-year
Alyssa Binczak recorded her first career RBI, a single down the left field line, to tie the game at 5-5. Long scored her second run of the game on a wild pitch in the eighth frame to secure the Eagles' win.
Laub finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored in game one, while Long, Binczak,
Tori Hook,
Sami Britton, and
Susana Perez each finished with one hit apiece. Long (2-1) earned the win in the circle, striking out four in two innings of work.
In game two, it was the Eagles who opened the scoring. A Long RBI double in the first inning put the Eagles ahead 1-0, before a
Sophie Rollins RBI single in the second doubled the Eastern advantage.
The Garnet were able to tie it up at 2-2 on a Cheong RBI double and an Avery McClure RBI single in the bottom of the second, but Eastern regained the lead for good in the top of the third. Eastern's first four batters of the frame reached base safely, and a Binczak sacrifice fly to right field scored pinch runner
Kellie O'Brien to put the Eagles ahead 3-2. Long later scored on a Swarthmore error to give Eastern a 4-2 advantage.
Swarthmore got one run back in the bottom of the third, but the Eagles held on down the stretch before the contest was called.
Madisyn Saposnek pitched two scoreless innings in relief, allowing just one baserunner. Seven different Eagles finished with a hit, while Long, Binczak, and Rollins each recorded an RBI.
Eastern returns to action this Saturday when they travel to Haverford to take on the Fords in a doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 pm.
