ST. DAVIDS, Pa. - In its penultimate home series of the regular season on Wednesday, Eastern Softball picked up a crucial 6-4 victory over the Alvernia Golden Wolves as it continues its push to the postseason. Mackenzie Laub and Susana Perez each recorded three hits, and Jania Long picked up her team-leading eighth win of the season of the circle.

Alvernia (18-11, 6-7) struck first in the opening frame on a two-out, RBI single from Allison Kirschner, but the Eagles struck back with a four-run bottom of the first. Laub started the rally with a double, and an RBI double from Long tied the contest at 1-1. Long would come around to score on an Alvernia fielding error, which made it 2-1 in favor of Eastern, and Susana Perez followed with an RBI double of her own down the left field line to increase Eastern's advantage to 3-1. Maeve Colligan capped off the scoring with an RBI single up the middle to score Perez. All four runs came with two outs.

The Eagles (20-10, 8-5) tacked on another run in the second inning. After Elena Iannuzzelli reached base on a passed ball on a third strike, Laub plated her on an RBI single to increase Eastern's lead to 5-1.

While the Eastern offense was producing, Long shut down the Alvernia offense brilliantly. After a two-out single from the Golden Wolves, the sophomore retired the next 13 batters she faced, which included four straight three-up, three-down frames. Long then helped her own cause in the in the fifth, blasting her sixth home run of the season over the center field fence to push the Eagles' advantage to 6-1.

The Golden Wolves made it interesting in the seventh inning on a bases-clearing double from Devan Hudson. However, Bryn Clifford and Alyssa Binczak shut the door the rest of the way. A brilliant unassisted double play by Binczak at second base quickly put two outs on the board, and Clifford clinched it with another game-winning strikeout. With her heroics, Clifford earned her second save of the season.

Laub and Perez combined for six hits, two runs, and two RBI, while Long finished 2-for-3 with a pair of runs scored and two RBIs. In the circle, Long (8-4) scattered seven hits and gave up four runs, three earned, while striking out three.

Game two was postponed due to inclement weather. The game will be played tomorrow afternoon at the EU Softball Field beginning at 4:30 pm.