ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. – Junior infielder
Kiara Bryant (Allentown, Pa./Parkland) finished the afternoon 5-for-8, hitting for the 'cycle' over two games as the Susquehanna University softball team took the series from Elizabethtown College with a split Tuesday afternoon. Susquehanna (5-3, 5-3 LC) opened up with a 7-2 win the first game before the host Blue Jays (1-11, 1-11 LC) held on for a 6-4 victory in the nightcap.
GAME 1
How It Happened
Each side put up a run in the first inning for a 1-1 draw after the first six outs. Susquehanna claimed a one-run lead in the second as sophomore infielder
Ashley Warner (Bloomsbury, N.J./Phillipsburg) worked a walk as the No. 3 hitter after back-to-back flyouts to the outfield.
Bryant, the clean-up hitter, continued her hot hitting, smoking a triple to right-center to score
Warner for a 2-1 SU lead after two innings.
Back-to-back RBI doubles by
Bryant and senior designated player
Brittany Hebda (Kingston, Pa./Holy Redeemer) in the third pushed the River Hawks' advantage to 4-1 after three innings.
Susquehanna broke the game open with three runs in the sixth.
Hebda plated a run on senior outfielder
Kody Streeter's (Boyertown, Pa./Boyertown) single while on the same play, junior catcher
Katie Koch (West Milton, Pa./Lewisburg Area) came home on a throwing error. Then
Streeter crossed home plate on a double by junior infielder
Erin Bean (Watchung, N.J./Watchung Hills) for a 7-1 advantage.
Elizabethtown added its second run in its half of the sixth when senior infielder
Kaitlyn Witmer, who had a lead-off double, came home on junior catcher
Ashley Mistichelli's two-out single.
Inside the Box Score
Susquehanna tallied seven runs on 10 hits, notching double-figure hits for the third time this season. Seven of the 10 hits were extra-base hits. The River Hawks collected five RBI and left six on base. Etown finished with five hits, including a pair of doubles, while stranding five on base.
Top Performers
Bean,
Bryant,
Hebda, and
Koch all picked up two hits for the River Hawks while
Bryant drove in two runs and
Koch scored a pair of runs in SU's fourth straight win.
Senior right-hander
Gabby Bubba (Lake Hopatcong, N.J./Pope John XXIII) moved to 3-1 on the season as
Bubba allowed both runs (all earned) on five hits with two walks and one strikeout. Sophomore right-hander
Lily Hochhausler (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury East-West) made her collegiate debut, pitching the final two outs of the game.
Five different Blue Jays notched a hit while junior
Paige Phillips (0-6) suffered the loss, giving up seven runs (six earned) on 10 hits with three walks, one strikeout, and one wild pitch.
GAME 2
How It Happened
The hosts came out swinging in the nightcap, scoring three runs in the first and three runs in the third to stake a 6-0 advantage.
Sophomore right-hander
Tori Caputo limited the River Hawks to one hit per inning through the first four innings.
Susquehanna finally broke through in the fifth with a four-run rally.
Streeter was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning then stole second and went to third on a ground out. After a flyout,
Streeter came home for the River Hawks' first run of the game on a single by first-year pinch hitter
Zoe Bork (Egg Harbor Twp., N.J./Egg Harbor Township).
Warner then doubled to bring home
Bork and close the gap to 6-2 with two outs.
Bryant followed with her second dinger of the season, and third of her career, to pull SU within two.
Caputo pitched a grounder to end the inning.
In the sixth, SU had runners on second and third but was unable to get them home.
Bryant hit a two-out single in the seventh but
Caputo got the next batter to ground out.
Inside the Box Score
The River Hawks saw their four-game win streak snapped in the second half. SU collected four runs on nine hits while stranding seven. Elizabethtown put an end to its 11-game skid as the Blue Jays scored six runs on eight runs with six RBI.
Top Performers
Bryant went 3-for-4 with two RBI while
Bean and senior outfielder
Katherine Fahsbender (Sparta, N.J./Pope John XXIII) each had two hits. Senior right-hander
Brooke Wiarda (Green Pond, N.J./Morris Knolls) was saddled with her first loss of the season, dropping to 2-1.
Wiarda gave up six runs (all earned) on five hits with two walks and two hit batters in 2.0 innings.
Phillips and sophomore
Grace Hussey each had two shots while
Phillips and junior
Amelia Lark each had two runs scored.
Caputo (1-5) earned the Blue Jays first win of the season as she gave up four runs (all earned) on nine hits with three strikeouts, two walks, one wild pitch, and one hit batter.
Up Next for the River Hawks
Apr. 10 vs. Drew (4-8, 4-8) – Selinsgrove, Pa. / The Hawk's Nest – 1:00 p.m. (DH)
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