ANNVILLE, Pa. – The Widener University softball team scored twice in the top of the ninth inning to forge a split with Lebanon Valley Dutchmen on Wednesday afternoon, winning game two 7-5. LVC took game one by a 9-7 final.
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• Katie Sterling had a big doubleheader going 6-for-9 in the two games with two doubles, two triples, and four RBI. With hits in each contest, she extended her hitting streak to 10 games. 
• Jamie Gosselin had five hits and stole three bases for the day.
• Carli Benozich had three hits in the two games while Lauren DelRomano, Maddie Keinbaum, Lindsey Cooper, and Hope DiMario each had two.
• Liv Rogers knocked in three runs for the day.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED IN GAME ONE (Lebanon Valley 9, Widener 7)

• The Pride wasted no time in getting on the board as with runners on first and second following a fielder's choice and a bunt, Rogers doubled to leftfield, scoring Gosselin and Benozich for a 2-0 WU lead.
• LVC responded, scoring six runs in the first and one in the third to go up 7-2. After Widener tallied a run in the fourth on a Bella Bottini hit to score Katie Sterling who singled to open the frame, the Dutchmen got two more runs in the bottom of the frame to take a 9-3 lead.
• Undaunted, the Blue and Gold battled back in the fifth. Gosselin singled to open the inning in front of Benozich who doubled, plating the runner for the first tally of the frame. Sterling followed with a triple before Rogers hit a sac fly, cutting the lead to 9-6.
• A Sterling double in the seventh to plate Gosselin brought the Pride within two and put the tying run on base. Two batters later, WU still had runners on second and third for DiMario who hit a screamer down the line, but was snared just above the dirt by the third baseman for the final out of the game.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED IN GAME TWO (Widener 7, Lebanon Valley 5 – 9 innings)

• After LVC opened the scoring with two runs in the first, Widener scored in the second as DelRomano tripled home pinch-runner Francesca Saam. The Pride tied it in the fourth on an RBI single by Keinbaum before the Dutchmen took the lead back in the bottom of the inning.
• Widener went back on top with three runs in the fifth as a pair of errors put runners on second and third for Sterling who tripled to clear the bases and give the Pride a 4-3 lead. A squeeze bunt by Cooper plated Sterling with the final run of the inning.
• Lebanon Valley rallied, posting two in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game.
• Things remained deadlocked at 5-5 into the ninth when singles by Sterling and Cooper followed by an error loaded the bases for Taylor Allen who singled in the go-ahead run. An RBI groundout by DiMario gave the Blue and Gold an insurance run later in the inning.

 
UP NEXT
Widener returns home for its Strike Out Cancer game against Lycoming on Saturday, April 21. First pitch for the doubleheader is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.