By: Laura Chapman
Assistant Sports Information Director
chapmal@juniata.edu • juniatasports.net
Photo: T.J. Chance-Chin 

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – On the final day of the Landmark Conference regular season, the Juniata College softball team dropped a pair of games to the No. 2 team in the league, Moravian College. The Eagles finish conference season with a 2-9 overall record.

Moravian took the early 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning of game one, but Juniata came back quickly in the top of the second. Sophomore Aly Smith (Mount Union, Pa. / Mount Union) ripped a lead off double that bounced off the outfield fence just out of reach of the Greyhounds centerfielder. She came around to score the Eagles first run on the RBI single by senior Rachel Smith (Martinsburg, Pa. / Home Schooled). The senior would finish the day with two hits and two RBI.

Freshmen Holly Renninger (Adamstown, Pa. / Cocalico) and Paige Dennison (East Berlin, Pa. / Bermudian Springs) each drew walks to load the bases with two outs, but Moravian worked out of the jam. Moravian moved a runner into scoring position in the bottom of the second, but the Juniata defense clamped down and worked out of the frame with no damage done.

Freshman Lindsey Kosicki (Patton, Pa. / Cambria Heights) drove a one-out double to centerfield to start off the top of the third, but it was the Greyhounds who did the damage in the bottom of the inning adding one more run for the 4-1 advantage. The Eagles blanked the Greyhounds in the bottom of the fourth, but Moravian tacked on five in the fifth to end the game early.

Juniata scored first in game two notching one run in the opening frame when Kosicki's single to centerfield scored freshman Allie Baney (State College, Pa. / State College Area) from second. The Greyhounds tied things up with one run in the bottom of the first and left a couple of runners stranded when senior pitcher Lydia Gorba (Portage, Pa. / Portage) was able to shut the door with a fly out to center.

 Moravian posted five runs in the bottom of the second and seven in the bottom of the third. In the top of the fourth inning junior Katie Schroeder (Kempton, Pa. / Kutztown) singled to right field and took advantage of a Greyhound miscue to reach second on the play. Rachel Smith followed up with a double down the right field line to plate Schroder for the Eagles second run of the game.

The Greyhounds scored once more in the bottom of the fourth inning and blanked the Eagles in the top of the fifth for the 14-2 final. Juniata will close out the 2014 season at home Tuesday, April 29, with a doubleheader against University of Pittsburgh at Bradford beginning at 3 p.m. on West End Field.

Follow Your Eagles! Stay up-to-date on your Juniata College Eagles by following us on twitter (@JuniataEagles) and on Facebook (Juniata Eagles).