HUNTINGDON, Pa.- Juniata softball hosted Pitt-Bradford in the regular season finale on Tuesday afternoon at West End Field. The Eagles got a strong pitching effort from Maddie Garrick (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Mechanicsburg) to win the first game 6-1 and nearly had a comeback in the second as the Panthers won 9-8.
Garrick had a season and career-best performance in the circle for the Eagles. She went the distance and gave up just one run on two hits while walking five and striking out four.
The Eagles scored five runs in the bottom of the second inning to go up 5-0. They tacked on a run in the fifth. The Panthers scored their only run in the seventh inning.
Lindsey Kosicki (Patton, Pa./Cambria Heights) was a perfect 3-for-3 with a double and two runs scored. Alicia Regnault (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater Raritan) batted 2-for-3 with a double, one run scored, and one run batted in. Chrisi Lerchen (Annville, Pa./Annville-Cleona) finished 1-for-2 at the plate with a double, one run scored, and one run batted in.
In the second game, the Panthers scored once in the first and once in the third inning to lead 2-0. Juniata would tie the contest up with a pair of runs in the bottom portion of the inning.
Pitt-Bradford went ahead 5-2 in the fifth. Eagles rallied with a five-run seventh inning. Sarah Sotelo (Fairfax, Va./Paul VI Catholic) tied it up with a three-run double. Kerigan Ammerman's (Alexandria, Pa./Juniata Valley) double scored one run while Lerchen's groundout also plated a run as JC went ahead 7-5.
The Panthers were down to their last out in the seventh inning but scored on a one-run single, a one-run double, and a two-run triple to take the lead back and go up 9-7. Once again in comeback mode, the Eagles were also down to their last out. Regnualt drew a walk and Sotelo singled. Ammerman delivered a single to center field that scored Regnault and make it 9-8 but pinch runner Kelsey Doell (Burlington, N.J./Doane Academy) was tagged out a third base and the game was over.
Ammerman collected a season and career-high four hits in the game. She had a double, two runs scored, and two runs batted in. Sotelo was 2-for-4 with a double and three RBIs.
