HUNTINGDON, Pa. — Down five runs in the first inning, the Lycoming College softball team battled back to post an 8-7 victory over Juniata College after a 3-2, nine-inning defeat in the first game of a Landmark Conference doubleheader on Saturday, March 28, at West End Field.
Lycoming (5-9, 1-3 Landmark) and Juniata (9-13, 2-2 Landmark) traded one-run victories, with Lycoming riding a season-high 16 hits to their game two comeback win.
The Warriors fell behind 5-0 in the first inning of game two, but answered back in the third with their own five-run frame. Senior Hailee Sobieski (Wharton, N.J. / Morris Catholic) singled in a run, then sophomore Ashley Forrest (Red Hill, Pa. / Upper Perkiomen) doubled in two. Following a pitching change, first year Kendall Cardone (South Williamsport, Pa. / South Williamsport Area) chipped in her first career hit and RBI to close the gap to one run. Forrest then scored on a sacrifice fly to tie the game at five apiece.
Juniata pulled back in front with a third-inning run, but the Warriors took their first lead of the contest in the fourth on back-to-back RBI singles from Sobieski and Forrest. The Eagles, though, answered right back in the bottom of the frame as Berlin's RBI single pulled Juniata back to even at 7-7.
In the fifth, junior Kendall McAnelly (Williamsport, Pa. / Williamsport Area) took the circle and shut down the Eagles with scoreless fifth and sixth frames. In the seventh, Lycoming broke the tie when Eckerson's bases-loaded groundout pushed home McAnelly with the go-ahead tally. The right-hander then navigated around a leadoff error in the seventh, retiring the final three hitters to secure the Warriors' first conference win of the year.
McAnelly (1-2) worked the final 3.0 innings scoreless out of the bullpen, allowing one hit and no walks with one strikeout to earn her first win. Sobieski led the offense with a 3-for-4, two-RBI effort, while Forrest had two hits and three RBI. Six Warriors tallied multi-hit games in the nightcap.
The first contest was tight throughout, with the Warriors striking in the first when senior Alex Eckerson (Hopatcong, N.J. / Morris Catholic) singled in fellow senior Claire Alexander (Montoursville, Pa. / South Williamsport Area).
Juniata, though, answered right back in the second when Dani Berlin came home on a sacrifice fly. The score remained 1-1 until the bottom of the sixth, when the Eagles pulled in front on an RBI double from Lexi Roush.
Lycoming first-year pitcher Isabelle Engel (Jersey Shore, Pa. / Jersey Shore Area), though, led off the seventh with a game-tying home run, the first by the Warriors this season. The first-year lefty then returned to the circle and threw a scoreless seventh to send the game to extras. After a scoreless eighth from both sides, the Eagles were able to win on a walk-off walk.
Engel worked 8.1 innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on eight hits, with four strikeouts and just one walk in a 130-pitch effort, while adding the roundtripper at the plate. Juniata's Cheyenne Silvis went the distance for the Eagles, allowing two runs on five hits in 9.0 innings, striking out five in a 133-pitch effort.
The Warriors will return to action on Monday, March 30 for a non-conference doubleheader on the road against Lebanon Valley. First pitch from Annville, Pa. is scheduled for 3 p.m.
