SELINSGROVE, PA (May 3, 2024) – The Susquehanna softball team finished off their regular season at home on Friday afternoon with a Landmark Conference doubleheader against Lycoming, splitting the two games with the Warriors as SU won game one 2-0 before falling 3-0 in game two. The results see the River Hawks finish the season 9-7 in Landmark play as they'll now await results from the rest of the conference to determine their seeding in the Landmark Conference Tournament.
Game 1: Susquehanna 2, Lycoming 0
Piloted by a masterful pitching performance from Brianna Jones, the River Hawks sealed their place in the conference tournament with the shutout win, with Jones going the distance for the 17th time this season and getting her fourth shutout as she allowed just four hits and struck out eight batters, bringing her Landmark-leading total to 90.
Despite getting eight hits in the game, SU only pushed across a pair of runs, though it proved to be all that they needed to come away with the win thanks to Jones shutting down the Warriors' bats. They would score the first run in the bottom of the 5th inning as Katelyn Dugery worked a leadoff walk before moving to second on a one-out single by Stevie Shaak. The hit was one of a perfect 3 for 3 day at the plate for Shaak. A strikeout put the second out on the board, but Hannah Roland came up clutch with a single through the right side of the infield that allowed Dugery to come home to give SU the lead. They would double their advantage in the bottom of the 6th as Zoe Bork led off the inning with a single up the middle. Hailey Kaba would take over for her as a pinch runner and immediately do some damage on the basepaths, stealing second. She made it to third after a pop out and a groundout, but once again the River Hawks got some clutch two-out hitting. This time Dugery supplied the RBI instead of the run, singling through the left side to score Kaba.
Shaak had the only extra-base hit of the game as she doubled in the 3rd, while Lexi Palumbo joined Kaba as the only other River Hawk with a stolen base.
Game 2: Lycoming 3, Susquehanna 0
Much as Jones dominated in game one for SU, Lycoming got a masterful pitching performance of their own in game two from their starter Kylie Russell. She limited Susquehanna to just four hits in the game while walking a pair but striking out eight. The tandem of Hannah Foust and Amanda Amerman did well to duel with Russell and keep things close with good pitching of their own, giving up just five combined hits and one earned run while striking out four hitters, but the River Hawks were never quite able to bring any of their baserunners around to score, meaning that a pair of runs in the top of the 1st for Lycoming were enough to seal the result. They did it without any hits in the inning, benefiting from a pair of fielding errors and a sacrifice fly to plate two runs. They were then able to get themselves a bit more insurance six innings later as they scored a third run in the top of the 7th, getting two of their five total hits in that inning and scoring the run on a one-out RBI single to left field.
Dugery collected another hit in game two, this one being a double and the River Hawks only extra-base hit of the game. Jones, Roland, and Nicole Wuertz would each get singles to round out the hits.
Finishing the regular season 19-17 overall and 9-7 in the Landmark, the River Hawks set themselves up well for a postseason run, playing some of their best ball down the stretch as they ran off an eight-game win streak during the month of April, winning 11 games over the course of the last month, including an 8-2 record in the Landmark. The rest of the conference will finish up their seasons tomorrow with doubleheaders of their own, with results among other teams holding the chance for Susquehanna to potentially be either the third or fourth seed of the Landmark Tournament.
Facebook: susquehanna.riverhawks | Instagram: @gosusqu
Twitter: @GOsusqU | Hashtags: #AllIn, #GOSU, #RiverHawkPride
--RIVER HAWKS--
