ST. DAVIDS, Pa. - In its first home doubleheader of the season on Wednesday, Eastern Softball recorded a pair of victories over Cedar Crest College to reach 10 victories. The Eagles took game one, 4-1, before rallying back to beat the Falcons 7-4 in game two.
The Eagles finished with just two hits in the opener, but both resulted in runs.
Jania Long finished 1-for-3 in game one with two RBIs, while
Tori Hook went 1-for-3 with an RBI. Hook was impressive throughout the afternoon, finishing the day with three hits, two runs scored, and five runs batted in, four of which came in game two. Long (3-2) picked up her third win in the circle with four strikeouts and just two hits allowed in a compete game effort.
Eastern first three batters in game one -
Alyssa Binczak,
Mackenzie Laub, and Hook - all reached via Cedar Crest fielding errors. The Eagles scored their first run on the Falcons' second error as Binczak came around to score from first. Long came through two batters later with a two-run double down the left field line, scoring Hook and Laub to put the Eagles ahead 3-0.
The Eagles' offense stalled during the next four innings, but Long and the Eagles' defense picked up the slack. Long allowed just two hits and four total baserunners in the contest. While the Falcons did get a run back in the fifth with the bases loaded, left fielder
Sophie Rollins made a great throw to third baseman
Sami Britton for the third out to keep the Falcons from doing any more damage.
Hook added a little insurance in the bottom of the sixth inning with a solo shot, her first of the season, to left field, putting the Eagles ahead 4-1. Long finished the game with a 1-2-3 seventh to secure the victory.
Eastern struck first again in game two. After Laub hit her first career triple to right field, Hook drove her home with an infield single in the bottom of the first to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead. Delaney VanBuskirk answered back with a two-run single in the top of second to put the Falcons ahead 2-1, but
Elena Iannuzzelli tied the game back up with an RBI single in the bottom half of the frame.
The game remained 2-2 until the fifth inning, when Natalie Hasert hit a two-out, two-run single through the infield to put Cedar Crest ahead by two. However, Hook saved her best at-bat for the bottom of the frame.
With the bases loaded, the sophomore from Willow Street crushed a bases-clearing double down the third-base line to score Iannuzelli, Binczak, and Laub to put the Eagles ahead 5-4. Laub added two more RBIs on a double in the sixth inning to secure the doubleheader sweep.
Hook drove in four runs on two hits, while Laub finished 3-for-4 with two RBI and a pair of runs scored.
Bryn Clifford (4-1) earned her team-leading fourth win of the season in relief, allowing just one hit in the final 2.1 innings of work.
Eastern will begin MAC Commonwealth on Friday afternoon against Albright in Reading. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 pm.
