ST. DAVIDS, Pa. - On Friday afternoon at the EU Softball Field, Eastern sophomore
Jania Long made history in the Eagles' doubleheader sweep of Widener. Her masterpiece in game two, a 3-1 victory, followed a 3-2, 10-inning walkoff in game one.
Long threw the first seven-inning no-hitter in program history, and became the fifth Eagle to throw a no-hitter since 2008. Fifteen years ago to the day, Kristine Rosko threw a five-inning perfect game against Rosemont with 10 strikeouts in a 16-0 win. Janelle Fair completed the feat on March 28, 2012 with six strikeouts in a 19-0 victory over Philadelphia Biblical University in five innings. Alyssa Welsh followed suit on March 21, 2014 with an eight-strikeout performance in a 12-0 triumph over Wilkes. Seven years later, on March 21, 2021, Lexi Evelyn recorded nine punchouts in a 12-0 win over Albright.
Over the course of the contest, Long (6-3) allowed just two baserunners, one on a walk in the third frame and one on an Eastern fielding error in the seventh. She struck out one batter, while inducing 12 flyouts and five groundouts.
After two scoreless innings to begin the contest, the Eagles broke the tie in the third frame. After a
Kelci Cost single and a
Sophie Rollins walk, right fielder
Mackenzie Laub roped a single to center field, and a Widener fielding error allowed Cost to score for the 1-0 advantage.
Laub hit an RBI double in the fifth inning to increase Eastern's lead to 2-0, before Long helped her own cause with an RBI on a fielders choice. The Pride were able to score a run in seventh after Kaylin Johnson reached on an error and later scored on a groundout from Rebecca Tiley, but Long induced a flyout in Widener's final at-bat to secure the no-no. Laub finished 2-for-3 with a run scored and one run batted in, while Cost finished 1-for-3 with a run scored.
Game one began with three scoreless innings before Widener finally pushed the first run across in the fourth frame on an Eliana Guerrieri RBI groundout. Eastern answered back on a pinch-hit, RBI single from
Maeve Colligan to tie the game in the bottom of the fifth.
In the fifth, first-year pitcher
Bryn Clifford (6-1) came into the game in relief and pitched brilliantly over the final six innings. The New Ringgold, Pa. native allowed just three hits and one unearned run with one strikeout.
The Eagles had chances to take the lead in the sixth and seventh innings, but were unable to do so, forcing extra innings. After a scoreless eighth and ninth frames, the international tiebreaker effect came into play. With two outs, Widener took advantage of an Eastern error and an RBI double in the top of the 10th to take a 2-1 advantage. However, the Eagles remained unfazed. With Rollins on second, Cost reached first on a Widener fielding error, and the errant throw allowed Rollins to score and tie the contest at 2-2. Two batters later,
Alyssa Binczak hit a sacrifice fly to center field to center field to secure the walk-off triumph.
Long finished 2-for-4, while Rollins scored a pair of runs. Seven other Eagles finished with one hit. Clifford (6-1) earned her team-leading sixth win.
Eastern will hit the road next Wednesday for another MAC Commonwealth showdown against Lebanon Valley. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 pm.
