Softball Sweeps Eastern

(Game 1) / (Game 2)

Timely offense and solid defensive plays earned Widener a sweep of Eastern, 5-1 and 5-2, in tonight's doubleheader in Chester, PA.

In game one, Jackie Korang (Delran, NJ) was a force in the circle—allowing just five hits and one run over seven innings. Widener, in the first inning, had a runner in scoring position, but it wasn't until the fifth inning when the Pride (20-14) put some runs on the board.

Designated player Taylor Shultz (Parker Ford, PA) led off the bottom of the fifth off with a double to right field and advanced to third on a single to center field by Korang. With one out, second baseman Colleen Orsborn (Drexel Hill, PA) hit a line drive single up the middle to score Shultz standing up. Sophomore Jenna Frazier (Prospect Park, PA) was brought into the game with two outs and two on and hit a seeing-eye infield single that allowed Korang (10-7) to score. Valarie Perretti (Clayton, NJ) was handed the bat as a pinch-hitter and took a 2-2 pitch over the left field fence for a three-run home run, her second of the season, to give the Pride a 5-0 advantage.

Although the Eagles (18-13-1) got runners on base in every inning except the seventh, Widener's defense held them to just one run in the game. In the top of the sixth, first baseman Jaclyn Gangemi doubled to left field to give Eastern a leadoff base-runner. A single up the middle allowed her to score easily and gave Eastern its lone run.

Game two saw similar play. Junior Christine Mattis (Drexel Hill, PA) gained her ninth win of the season after pitching a full seven innings, allowing 10 hits and giving up just one earned run.

The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the fourth inning when the Pride put three runs on the scoreboard. With one out, Jess Way (Marlton, NJ) drew a base on balls and advanced to third on a right-field single hit by Shultz. A perfectly executed suicide-squeeze bunt by Mattis (9-5) scored Way, who slid around the tag, and put the first run of the game on the board. Jen Nance (Lansdowne, PA) drew a walk to load the bases and Orsborn also walked, scoring a run. First baseman Carissa Harris (Douglassville, PA) hit a sacrifice fly to center field to score Mattis from third, but Nance was thrown out by the center fielder at third base for the end of the inning.

Widener gained one more run in each the fifth and sixth innings. In the fifth inning, Frazier beat out a throw from the shortstop for an infield single and advanced to second on a groundout. Way singled up the middle to score Frazier standing up. In the next inning, Perretti legged out a one-out triple hit to the fence in left-center and scored easily on Orsborn's single through the right-side of the infield.

Eastern scored two runs—one in the sixth inning and one in the seventh. A double by pitcher Maggie McGowan in the sixth put the Eagles on the board after a fielding error allowed her to score. In its last at-bat Eastern put up three hits, but solid Widener defense allowed only one run. An infield single followed by a hit to right-field put runners on first and third. Janelle Fair hit a single that dropped in centerfield, allowing a run to score from third. A groundout and a pop-out ended the game.

The victories give Widener its 10th 20-win season in school history and fifth in the last six years.

Widener on Saturday hosts Lycoming in a Commonwealth Conference doubleheader, with the first game beginning at 1:00 pm.

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