EDWARDSVILLE, PA (April 12, 2023) – Susquehanna softball took to the road on Wednesday for a non-conference doubleheader, visiting future Landmark Conference members Wilkes University. Ending their streak of six straight split doubleheaders, the River Hawks took wins in both games, winning the first 13-7 and taking the second 6-2.

Game 1: Susquehanna 13, Wilkes 7

After an uneventful start to the game, the floodgates opened in the top of the 2^nd as SU unleashed a whopping nine runs and seized control of the momentum. Ashley Warner, who had a brilliant day at the plate, reaching base three times in five plate appearances, led off with a single to left field. Zoe Bork followed with a single of her own, putting runners on first and second with no outs. Morgan Henry then got hit by a pitch, loading the bases for the River Hawks. Erin Bean came to the plate and also got hit by a pitch, earning an RBI for her troubles as the first run came home to score. Emily Deitch followed that with an RBI single to left field, keeping the bases loaded. After a popout got Wilkes their first out, Hailey Kaba got the ball rolling again with a well-hit double to left center, picking up two RBIs and moving Deitch to third. Meredith Pavlik drew a walk to reload the bases, and moved to second after an RBI groundout from Lexi Palumbo advanced all the runners, making the score 5-0 with runners on second and third and two outs. While the Colonels had a potential escape from the big inning, the River Hawks weren't done yet, as Warner came back to the plate and picked up her second hit in the inning, this one a double down the left field line that netted her two RBIs. Bork also got a second hit with another single, advancing to second as Warner reached third. Henry came through with her own two-RBI double next, pushing the lead to nine runs. Bean got a hit in her second plate appearance of the inning, singling to right field but being caught out as she tried to stretch it to a double, ending the inning with Henry still at third base.

Wilkes would not hang their heads despite the massive gap, responding in the bottom of the inning with the help of a pair of fielding errors by SU. They would put up four runs on three hits, cutting the lead down to five. Susquehanna got one back right away, scoring their 10^th run of the game on an RBI double by Kaba, her second double in as many innings. Three more runs came in the top of the 5^th on a fielding error and then a two-RBI double for Henry, her second of the day and the team's sixth double of the game. Wilkes answered with three runs of their own in the bottom of the inning, but the six-run gap hold firm for the remainder of the game as Amanda Amerman entered to see out the win for starting pitcher Hannah Foust, who had just two earned runs on eight hits in her 5.0 innings of work.

Plenty of players stood out at the plate, particularly Kaba, who was 4 for 5 at the plate with three doubles, scoring two runs and netting three RBIs. She also stole two bases, the only River Hawk to steal a base in the game. Henry had the game-high in RBIs with four, going a perfect 3 for 3 at the plate and scoring a run as well. Bork and Warner rounded out the players with multi-hit games, both with two.

Game 2: Susquehanna 6, Wilkes 2

The second game proved a much closer affair after the offensive explosion of game 1, being tied for two innings and having the teams finish with a combined 13 hits, a much more modest total after the 21 combined hits in the first game.

Susquehanna immediately got themselves back into the lead in the top of the 1^st, once again riding key contributions from Warner at the plate. She'd knock a two-RBI single through the left side of the infield to kick off the scoring. The game would end up tied again in the bottom of the 2^nd, as the Colonels had a two-RBI single of their own, one of just three hits off of Amerman, who started game 2. Brianna Jones then entered the circle in relief in the 4^th inning, doing brilliant work as she tossed 4 shutout frames while allowing just two hits, giving her offense plenty of time to work its way back in front. They would do so in the top of the 5^th, catalyzed once more by Warner, who launched a triple to left field to plate two runs after a fielding error with two outs allowed Palumbo to reach base and kept the inning alive. With the lead in hand, the River Hawks added some key insurance runs in the top of the 7^th, once again rallying with two outs as Palumbo and then Warner came up with back-to-back RBI singles, making the score 6-2. Wilkes went down in order in the bottom of the inning, sealing the win for Jones and the River Hawks.

Warner's five-RBI performance is a career-high for the senior, capping a remarkable performance in the doubleheader as she tallied five hits in eight at-bats, with a double and a triple, seven RBIs, three runs scored, and a walk.

Now 15-12 overall and riding high after the big day, SU will get back to Landmark play this weekend, putting their 2-2 conference record to the test on the road at Elizabethtown College for a doubleheader. They'll begin at 1 pm, with SU looking to get their first road conference win of the season and continue their momentum against a Blue Jay squad that remains a winless 0-6 in Landmark play.

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--RIVER HAWKS--