CENTER VALLEY, Pa.—For the sixth time this season, Eastern University Softball (23-7) settled for a split after winning the opening game of a doubleheader. The Eagles led throughout in winning the opener at DeSales by a 4-1 score, but the Bulldogs scored twice in each of the first two innings of the nightcap and held on for a 4-2 win.
Emily Trzonkowski (14-0) continued her outstanding run with seven strong innings of three-hit ball in the opener. Eastern's standout rookie kept the Bulldogs off the board until they converted a leadoff walk and a sacrifice bunt into a single tally in the sixth inning. She struck out nine hitters to get to 101 on the season. Only three other Eastern pitchers have reached 100 strikeouts in a year. Janelle Fair did it twice, Deb Ellerson had 107 in 1999, and
Danika Barthol struck out 154 in Eastern's deep run in 2024. Her 14 wins has her in a tie with Fair for fourth in a single season.
Maura Yoos tripled to leadoff the game and came home on an
Ainsley O'Donnell sacrifice fly. The Eagles added two two-out insurance runs in the fifth. Yoos singled and came home on an O'Donnell triple, and
Maryanna Nagle singled to score O'Donnell.
After the Bulldogs scratched for a run in the sixth,
Morgan Joseph walked and advanced to third ona stolen base and a wild pitch. She came home on a Yoos ground out. Four of Eastern's five hits in the game came from the top three hitters in the order.
In an ominous start, the Eagles had three hits and no runs in the top of the first. Yoos singled and was caught stealing, and O'Donnell doubled and was thrown out at the plate on a single from
Hailey Burke.
The Bulldogs (14-21) grabbed the 2-0 lead on a pair of one out walks, a wild pitch and a single to cap a 13-pitch at bat. After another walk,
Bryn Clifford came on and induced a pair of pop-ups to escape the jam. DeSales doubled the lead on a single, and error and a bloop single over first with one out in the second. Clifford did not allow another run, but the Eagles were unable to climb out of the 4-0 hole.
With two outs in the third inning, Yoos, O'Donnell, and Nagle provided a little light. Yoos singled to left and reached third on an opposite-field double from O'Donnell. Nagle flipped a single into short center field to halve the deficit.
The Eagles had base-runners in each of their final four at bats, but the DeSales pitchers got the outs they needed to secure the win.
The Eagles will conclude the regular season at Widener on Friday evening. The Eagles would need to sweep the Pride and have Alvernia to sweep Messiah to move up from the second spot in the MAC Commonwealth standings. If Messiah wins one game against Alvernia, the Falcons will again host the MAC Commonwealth Championships.
