By: Jennifer Jones
Director of Sports Information
jonesj@juniata.edu • juniatasports.net
Photo: Jennifer Jones
HUNTINGDON, Pa. – The Juniata College softball team spent nearly 4.5 hours on the diamond Thursday as the Eagles dropped both games to St. Vincent College on West End Field. Juniata took the Bearcats into extra innings before falling 9-5 (8) in game one and 10-1 in game two. Juniata (3-15) went .304 and hit a cycle as a team.
Sophomore Paige Dennison (East Berlin, Pa./Bermudian Springs) went 4-for-5 in game one and finished .500 at the plate. Senior Rachel Smith (Martinsburg, Pa./Homeschooled) and sophomore Aly Smith (Mount Union, Pa./Mount Union) each had two hits on the day with an RBI. Both Smith's earned starts on the mound. Aly went 7.1 innings and struck out a team-best four batters.
Juniata's bats started out on fire in game one. Dennison opened things with a single up the middle and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by the next batter. Rachel Smith then crushed a double to left center, scoring Dennison. With two outs on the board, freshman Lindsey Kosicki (Patton, Pa./Cambria Heights) rocked her second home run of the season over the right center wall to give Juniata the 3-0 lead.
Their bats stayed hot in the second inning. With one out, freshman Allie Baney (State College, Pa./State College) tripled to right center. Freshman Nikea Ulrich (Homer, N.Y./Homer) then grounded out to second base, but Baney was able to squeeze home for the fourth run.
That score held until the top of the fourth inning, when an error allowed the Bearcats their first run across. Juniata came back and scored in the bottom of the inning. Smith singled through the right side to load the bases with one out. Bearcat starter Laken Lyon then hit Aly Smith in the box, scoring the runner from third and pushing the Eagles lead back out to four.
St. Vincent pulled to within one and scored the game-tying run in the top of the seventh inning with one out on the board. The Eagles held them to just the single run, but could not score in the final two innings as the Bearcats bats exploded in the eighth to pick up four runs and the win.
Game two started slower for both teams. St. Vincent led 1-0 until a blowout fourth inning gave them the 7-0 lead. Juniata responded in the bottom the inning when Aly Smith walked and advanced to second a sacrifice bunt by Baney. She then moved to third and scored on back-to-back wild pitches. Juniata got another baserunner on, but could not counter the Bearcats offensive push.
Juniata hits the road next. The Eagles will take on Catholic University this Saturday, March 29 in a doubleheader that starts at 1 p.m. It will be their second Landmark Conference matchup of the season.
Follow Your Eagles! Stay up-to-date on your Juniata College Eagles by logging onto www.juniatasports.net. And don't forget to follow us on twitter (@JuniataEagles) and on Facebook (Juniata Eagles).
