HARROGATE, TN — The Golden Eagle softball team dropped a pair of closely fought games on Sunday, falling 2-0 to Bloomsburg and 9-6 to Lincoln Memorial on the second day of Abe’s Invitational.
Bloomsburg 2, Clarion 0
Recap: The first game of the day was a brisk pitcher’s duel, with the two teams needing just one hour and 15 minutes to cruise through seven innings of action. Pitchers Emma Hipps and Callie Sowers allowed just two runs apiece, but even that does not totally tell the tale; Hipps allowed doubles in the first and second inning and then held the Huskies hitless for the final five innings, and the Golden Eagles scattered their hits in the second and fifth innings.
Mia Nemeth drove in the first run of the day in the top of the first inning, lifting a fly ball to shallow right field, and Breanna Culp scored on an error.
Clarion had a chance to tie it in the next half-inning, when Emily Buchleitner hit a single and stole second base, but Sowers whiffed the next two Golden Eagles to end the threat.
Bloomsburg struck again in the top of the second inning, with Mary Stork hitting a ball ot shallow left field to score Taylor Kranzley. Kranzley’s double in the second was the last hit of the game for the Huskies, though, as Hipps settled in and allowed just three more baserunners for the rest of the game.
Clarion’s best opportunity to come back was in the bottom of the fifth inning, when Tori Martrano led off the frame with a single. Sowers struck out the next two batters and induced a flyout from Haylie Rimmey, ending the threat. The Huskies’s starter retired nine straight batters down the stretch to clinch the game.
Lincoln Memorial 9, Clarion 6
Recap: In a rematch of Saturday’s nightcap, the Golden Eagles acquitted themselves much better against the Railsplitters, trading leads with the host school and holding the advantage as late as the sixth inning. LMU struck first when Sterre den Dujin smacked an RBI single to right field, followed by an RBI double from Katy Pozzuto.
The Golden Eagles responded in a big way, starting in the second inning. Kathryn O’Horo brought some two-out lightning, drilling a double to left field to score Rimmey and cut the lead in half, and Clarion tacked on two more runs in the top of the third inning to take the lead.
Desi Allen continued her productive start to the season with an RBI single to score Buchleitner, and Billie Aguglia brought her home with a hard shot to third base.
Clarion built a 4-2 lead in the top of the fourth inning on Buchleitner’s RBI groundout that scored O’Horo, with the latter leading off the inning on a double, but the Railsplitters regained the advantage with a three-run fifth inning.
The Golden Eagles briefly took the lead back in the top of the sixth, with Alexis Valencia and Buchleitner bringing runs across to make it 6-5. LMU pounded out four runs in the home half of the inning to take a 9-6 lead, and Margot van Eijl tossed a shutout seventh for the save.
Megan Anderson got a no-decision in the start, throwing four innings and allowing just two hits and two runs. Rimmey went 3-for-4 with two runs scored, while O’Horo and Buchleitner each added a pair of hits.
Copyright © 2024 EYT Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Any copying, redistribution or retransmission of the contents of this service without the express written consent of EYT Media Group, Inc. is expressly prohibited.
