ST. DAVIDS, Pa. – A two-run home run from
Kara Heidlauf (Mount Joy, Pa./Donegal High School) lifted the Hood College softball team to a 4-1 win over defending Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth champion Eastern University, but the Blazers could not keep the momentum, falling 11-3 in game two.
At the Plate
Heidlauf finished the day batting 3-6 with four RBIs, hitting a two-run blast in the first game.
Jocelyn Pfleiger (Quakertown, Pa./Dock Mennonite Academy) went 3-4 with an RBI in game one.
Anna Sommerkamp (Mechanicsville, Md./Chopticon) finished the opening game batting 2-3 with an RBI and a run.
In the Circle
Rebecca Gottleib (Linthicum, Md./North County) allowed just one run off four hits to pick up the game one win, her 10th of the season.
Hood 4, Eastern 1
The number two team in the conference did what they do best and got on the board right away with an RBI double, but Gottleib regained her composure and got the next three batters out to end the inning down just one.
Despite getting runners in scoring position over the next two innings, the Eagles could not seem to get their hits to be timelier as they put up goose eggs despite threatening.
Although the Blazers had only managed a pair of singles heading into the fourth inning, after Pfleiger added a third to the tally, Heidlauf made sure the first extra base hit was a good one, sending towering fly ball over the left field fence to give Hood a 2-1 lead.
After turning a double play to get out of the bottom of the fourth with the lead still intact, the Blazers decided they needed to at least add one more for breathing room, with Sommerkamp getting a good enough jump on a Pfleiger single up the middle to make it home on her feet and put them up 3-1.
With Gottleib getting the next three Eastern batters to head back to the dugout in order, Hood made sure to keep the momentum firmly on its side by adding another run to make it a three-run advantage, and the Eagles would only manage one more base runner the next two innings as the Blazers secured an important 4-1 win.
Eastern 11, Hood 3 (5 inn.)
Unfortunately for Hood, its bats would not be as hot as they were in the first game, as despite scoring their first time up to the plate and taking a 1-0 lead to the bottom of the inning, that would be the last time it would have the upper hand after Eastern plated four runs thanks in part to a triple from Jania Long.
A double from Heidlauf did make it a 4-3 game in the top of the third, but the Eagles did not mess around after that, sending another four runners across in the bottom of the inning, another in the fourth, and then two more in the bottom of the fifth for a walk-off mercy rule, handing the Blazers an 11-3 loss.
For the Opponent
Ainsley O'Donnell finished the day 3-5 with two RBIs and a double.
Long went 2-3 with a triple and two RBIs in the nightcap, striking out six in the circle in the same game.
Notes
Hood moves to 20-16 (6-6), while Eastern is now 25-7 (10-2).
The game one win marked the first time in program history the Blazers have defeated the Eagles.
Up Next
Hood finishes up the regular season celebrating Senior Day before a MAC Commonwealth doubleheader against Albright College Saturday, April 26 at 1 and 3 p.m.
