CLERMONT, Fla. - In an afternoon doubleheader on Thursday, Eastern Softball split a pair of games with the University of Dubuque Spartans. Eastern scored seven runs in the first inning en route to a 10-3 win in the opener, before Dubuque returned the favor with eight runs in the first three frames in an eventual 12-2 loss for the Eagles in game two.
The Eagles finished with 11 hits in the opener, with three coming off the bat of
Jania Long. After an 0-for-6 start to the year, the junior finished with three hits in three at-bats and drove in a pair of runs. First-year outfielder
Ainsley O'Donnell finished with a pair of hits and two runs batted in, while senior
Kelci Cost finished 1-for-4 with three RBIs.
Sydney Ostolaza hit the Eagles' first home run of the season, while
Tori Hook,
Maeve Colligan,
Alyssa Binczak, and
Susana Perez each added a hit in the victory.
Long (3-0) remained perfect in the circle, giving up four hits and two runs while striking out two in four innings of work.
Hailey Krichten recorded her first save of the season, allowing five hits and just one run in the final three innings.
The Eagles sent 11 batters to the dish in the first inning, scoring seven runs on five hits. O'Donnell led off the contest with a single, before Binczak hit a bunt single and Ostolaza walked to load the bases. Hook took a pitch on the arm to bring in Eastern's first run, and Colligan followed with an infield RBI single to push Eastern's lead to 2-0. Long followed with a scorching single to center field to drive in Hook and Ostolaza to double Eastern's advantage to 4-0. Cost drove in her first run of the day on an RBI groundout, and O'Donnell, in her second at-bat of the inning, ripped a double down the left field line to put the Eagles ahead 7-0.
Dubuque scored two in the bottom of the first, but that was as close as they would get the rest of the way. Eastern added single runs on another Cost RBI groundout in the third, an Ostolaza solo shot to right field in the sixth, and a Cost RBI single in the seventh.
Dubuque turned the tables on Eastern in game two, recording a whopping 16 hits and scoring eight runs in the first three innings of play. The Eagles only recorded four hits in the contest, and scored their only two runs of the game in the fourth on an
Amanda Bruno RBI single and a Dubuque fielding error. Binczak recorded two of Eastern's four knocks in the loss, while Bruno and Hook finished with the other two.
Eastern (4-2) completes its Spring Break trip with a pair of early games tomorrow. The Eagles will take on Russell Sage college at 8:30 am and Benedictine University at 10:45 am.
