FREDERICK, Md. – After a quick loss in game one, the Hood College softball team looked poised to walk off the visiting Eastern University Eagles, but were unable to plate the runs necessary, falling in extra innings in game two against the Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth opponent.
In the Circle
Jordan Long (Middletown, Md./Middletown) took the loss in game two, giving up five earned runs while striking out two.
At the Plate
Kara Heidlauf (Mount Joy, Pa./Donegal High School) went 2-2 with two doubles in game one.
Mallorie Hetzel (Pasadena, Md./Northeast) and
Jocelyn Pfleiger (Quakertown, Pa./Dock Mennonite Academy) both hit 2-3 in the second game, with Hetzel getting two RBIs.
Eastern 9, Hood 1
Hood got on the board first with an all-too-familiar
Rebecca Gottleib (Linthicum, Md./North County) leadoff home run, with this one going fight back where it came over the center field fence.
Eastern would see that homer and decide to double down the next inning however, hitting a two-run shot to center to quickly take the lead.
The Eagles would not stop there, adding runs in each of the next inning before a two-run single would put the Blazers in danger of having the run-rule enacted. In need of a run to keep the game going, the home team managed to get their first two batters on base, but the next three went down in order to end the first game early with a 9-1 final in favor of Eastern.
Eastern 5, Hood 4
This time around, the Eagles would not wait so long to score, taking a quick 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Hood was not going to go down quietly though, scoring two runs of their own in the bottom half of the frame to tie things up.
Another two runners rounded the diamond for Eastern in the third inning, but the Blazers again evened things out in the fourth with some well-timed sacrifices from Gottleib and Pfleiger.
No one would score for the rest of regulation however, as the game was forced into extras after Pfleiger was unable to stretch a deep single into a double in the bottom of the seventh. Although the Eagles put a runner across home in the top of the eighth,
Hood looked ready to put the game away with two runners on and just one out. Unfortunately, a hard-hit ball was just kept in the infield to get a force tag at third for the second out, and
Robin Charlton (Philadelphia, Pa./MaST Community Charter School II) could not keep the game going as the Blazers ran out
of time in a 5-4 defeat.
For the Opponent
Ainsley O'Donnell finished the day batting 5-7 with two doubles.
Jania Long was chased early in the first inning of game two but came back and got the save for the Eagles.
Notes
Hood drops to 7-19 (1-9), while Eastern improves to 23-4 (9-1).
Up Next
The Blazers will stay at home for a doubleheader against Marymount Tuesday, April 16 at 3 and 5 p.m.
