HUNTINGDON, Pa.- Juniata softball hosted Landmark rival Susquehanna in a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon. The River Hawks defeated the Eagles 6-2 in Game 1 and 10-0 in six innings in Game 2. The loss drops JC to 13-17 overall and 3-5 in the conference while Susquehanna improves to 19-9 overall and 6-2 in the conference.
In the first game, SU took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second on a Lauren Creamer solo homerun. The River Hawks added a second run in the third to lead 2-0.
Juniata got on the board in the fourth on Abby Ebright's (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin East) leadoff homer to left. In the fifth, Kerigan Ammerman (Alexandria, Pa./Juniata Valley) hit a sacrifice fly to right to score Alicia Regnault (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater Raritan) and tie the game at 2-2.
Creamer struck again for the River Hawks with a two-out two-run home run to left center to give Susquehanna a 4-2 lead in the top of the sixth inning. SU would add two more runs in the seventh to complete the scoring.
Anna Baran (Tyrone, Pa./Tyrone) took the loss for JC in the circle. She pitched six innings and gave up six runs on six hits with three walks. Chrisi Lerchen (Annville, Pa./Annville-Cleona) came in for an inning of relief and surrendered one hit.
Ebright finished 2-for-3 with her second homerun of the season, one run scored, and one run batted in. Ammerman was 1-for-2 with a run batted in. She also helped turn two double plays in the field.
In Game 2, Susquehanna scored a pair of runs in the first and second innings to lead 4-0 and added a run in both the third and fourth innings. Creamer hurt the Eagles again with a grand slam in the sixth inning.
Juniata was held to three hits overall. Jordan Wahrenberger (Shamong, NJ/Seneca), Jennifer Carthew (New Paris, Pa./Chestnut Ridge), and Molly Ulrich (Homer, NY/Homer Central School) each had one hit.
The Eagles hit the road on Tuesday as they will play Penn State Altoona. The first game begins on 3:00 with the second game starting around 5:00 p.m.