READING, Pa. — Eastern University Softball locked up a spot in the MAC Commonwealth Tournament with a gritty sweep at Alvernia.
Emily Trzonkowski threw seven scoreless innings for her eleventh win of the year in a 4-0 win in the opener, and the rookie standout retired the final hitter in the game to secure a 5-4 win in the nightcap.
Ainsley O'Donnell had five hits on the day and went over 100 for her career, and
Maryanna Nagle drove in three runs with six hits.
The Eagles have not lost an opening game this spring, and Trzonkowski again was strong. The rookie right-hander allowed only three singles in the game and struck out four. With her side playing clean defense behind her, Trzonkowski completed the game with an efficient 78 pitches.
The Eagles got all the offense they would need with a pair in the third.
Sydney Ostolaza drove in
Maura Yoos with a two-out single. Mackenzie Laud then drove in Nagle with a single to center. The Eagles tacked on two more runs in the fifth when Nagle drove in O'Donnell and Yoos.
While the Eagles have been flawless in openers, game two has sometimes been a struggle. The Eagles used four pitchers to earn the 5-4 win. The Golden Wolves (10-16, 5-5) turned a walk into an unearned run in the first.
The Eagles answered in the third with three runs on four hits. Nagle had an RBI-single and Laub capped the scoring with an RBI-double. With her two hits today, Laub moved into eighth on Eastern's career-hit list with 126.
A walk and a pair of errors helped Alvernia to close the gap to 4-2 with a single tally in the fourth before the Eagles answered with an unearned run of their own in the top of the fifth. Ostolaza led off with a single,a nd pinch runner
Kellie O'Brien scored from first on sacrifice bunt and error.
After
Bryn Clifford retired the first two hitters she faced in the seventh, an error and a pair of hits brought the winning run to the plate. Trzonkowski threw three pitches to earn the save on a fly ball to short right field.
The Eagles will host Gwynedd Mercy University in a non-league game before hosting league-leading Messiah on Saturday. A win in either game against Messiah would lock up the second seed in the MAC Commonwealth Tournament, and the Eagles would secure the top seed with doubleheader sweeps against Messiah and Widener.)
