HUNTINGDON, PA (April 21, 2023) – Susquehanna softball split Friday's road series at Juniata in Landmark play, winning the opener while the Eagles took game two in walkoff fashion. The disappointing nightcap ended the River Hawks' win streak at seven games, where they posted sweeps over Wilkes, Elizabethtown, and Lycoming, but now stand at a healthy 20-13 with a 5-3 record on conference play.  

The orange and maroon have one more non-conference date set for Thursday against Dickinson before entering the home stretch of the Landmark season in hopes of clinching a playoff berth in their title defense. They face Drew at home next Saturday, April 29 for senior day, then head to Scranton Saturday, May 6 in the regular season finale.

SUSQUEHANNA 8, JUNIATA 5
The River Hawks attacked early in the first with a 2-0 lead on the heels of an Ashley Warner RBI double and an Erin Bean ribbie single to right. Juniata responded in the bottom half to tie the game at two, but pitcher Hannah Foust settled in to keep the Eagles scoreless over the next three frames. This set the stage for Susquehanna to deliver six runs over the third, fourth and fifth innings.

Meredith Pavlik opened the middle-inning scoring with her eighth home run of the year on a solo shot to center in the third, then Rosemarie Mirabella sent a home run of her own in the fourth inning with a two-run blast, her first of the season to move the score up to 5-2. The River Hawks tacked on three more runs in the fifth when Zoey Bork brought in one on a sacrifice fly, the Morgan Henry delivered an RBI infield single, then in that same sequence Erin Bean came home on the throw.
Juniata threatened in the bottom half of the fifth when pitcher Cate Baran helped out her cause with a two-run home run to cut the lead down to 8-4. Alison Superka led off the sixth with a solo homer to make it 8-5 before Amanda Amerman relieved Foust in the circle to retire the next six Eagles batters to improve Susquehanna's win streak to seven games.

The River Hawks combined for 14 hits, headlined by a 4-for-4 day from Erin Bean with one RBI and one stolen base. Lexi Palumbo batted 3-for-4 with two doubles, while Warner batted 3-for-4 with one double and one RBI. Mirabella's dinger was her lone hit of the day, but led the team with two ribbies.

Foust went five-plus innings, surrendering five runs with four earned and two strikeouts before Amerman turned in four strikeouts on her six batters faced to get the final outs.

JUNIATA 5, SUSQUEHANNA 4
Much like game one, the River Hawks jumped out to a two-run lead off RBI singles from Lexi Palumno and Ashley Warner. Juniata got one back in the bottom of the first when Claire Thomas brought in a run on a fielder's choice, then tied the game in the third of an RBI single from Alison Superka. Susquehanna got back in front in the top of the fifth when Palumbo came through with an RBI triple, followed by a ribbie single from Warner on the next at bat, but the Eagles swooped in with two runs in the bottom frame when Superka delivered a two-run homer.

Amanda Amerman took over for Brianna Jones at the pitching spot entering the sixth, holding the Eagles scoreless. With the River Hawks' side retired in the top of the seventh, Juniata led off with a single by Cate Baran, followed by a bunt single to put runners at first and second. The next at-bat resulted in a wild pitch, which brought Baran all the way home from second for the sudden victory.

Brianna Jones pitched the first five innings, fanning seven in the process with four runs given up with three earned on seven hits. Amerman gave up three hits with six batters faced. The River Hawks produced eight hits, with two-hit days from Hannah Roland, Palumbo, and Warner. Palumbo went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, while Warner batted 2-for-3 with a pair of ribbies. Palumbo's bases-clearing triple was SU's lone multi-base hit of the contest.