GRANTHAM, Pa.— After holding off a scrappy Stevenson team by a 10-9 score in the first Elimination game, Eastern University Softball (26-9) saw its season come to an end in a run-shortened lost to the top-seeded Messiah Falcons.
Pushed into the elimination bracket by a first-day loss to York, the Eagles were looking at a tough stretch of games and a lot of innings to find their way to Saturday.
Emily Trzonkowski started the first game against Stevenson. Though she gave upa. run in the top of the first, The Eagles staked her to a 7-1 lead after two innings.
Maryanna Nagle hit a two-run home run in the first, and
Mackenzie Laub and
Sydney Ostolaza each delivered two-run hits with two outs in the second.
With the lead, the Eagles went to the bullpen to try to save Trzonkowski for the next game. The Mustangs had other ideas. Stevenson closed the gap to 7-4 and had two runners on with one out in the fourth inning. Trzonkowski came on to get the Eagles out of the jam.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Eagles got a one-out RBI single from
Madisyn Saposnek, and a two-run triple from
Maura Yoos to build a 10-4 lead. The triple was t the third of the year and the 100th career hit for the sophomore. She finishes the year second in single-season hits with 51 and second in single-season batting average at .436.
Things got complicated in the sixth. The Mustangs struck for five runs on six hits. Trzonkoski escaped the jam, but it was obvious that Eastern's first year star would not have gas in the tank to pitch the nightcap should the Eagles arrive there. She worked around a pair of hits in the top of the seventh and GIa Gordon caught the final ball in right field to end the game. Gordon, the game for an injured Laub, had not played in right this year.
Messiah lost 6-1 to York in the first game of the day to set up an elimination game between the two top seeds. The Falcons scored three runs in the first. Gordon came on in relief. After walking the first hitter she faced, Gordon threw three shutout innings to try to give the offense time to find its way. The Eagles broke through with a single run on an
Ainsley O'Donnell double before any were out in the fifth, but the Eagles could not plate a second run and the game went sideways from there.
A pair of ground ball hits, including a bad-hop single set the hosts up for a big inning. The Falcons led 7-1 after five. With the rain starting and a tired Trzonkowski throwing, the Falcons ended the game with a two-run single in the sixth.
Eastern's graduating seniors have been part of 109 wins and to two NCAA Tournaments over the past four years, which is far-and-away the most successful stretch of seasons in program history.
Messiah and York will play for the MAC Commonwealth Championship at Messiah tomorrow.
