MIDDLETOWN, Pa. – A stout relief appearance on the rubber from senior captain Kara Boyd (Alexandria, Pa. / Juniata Valley)? Check. A fantastic outing inside the circle by sophomore captain Gabrielle Wolfe (New Milford, Pa. / Blue Ridge)? Check. An offense that continued its recent trend of putting up crooked numbers? Check.
These three ingredients led to two Penn State Harrisburg victories over the visitors from Notre Dame of Maryland on Tuesday, Apr. 9. The Lions blazed the comeback trail in the opener en route to a 7-5 win before blanking the Gators 5-0 in the nightcap.
After the visitors scored a combined five runs (two unearned) in the two innings of the first game, the Blue & White got the bats going in the bottom of the second. Junior Alisha House (Crownpoint, N.M. / Thoreau) reached base on an error and senior Kat Bernardi (Fredericksburg, Pa. / Northern Lebanon) drove her in with a single to center field.
Harrisburg got a two-out rally going when Wolfe's single to left field plated freshman Jennifer Bear (Lebanon, Pa. / Cedar Crest) and Boyd's single to right field drove in senior Danielle Ringel (McKees Rock, Pa. / Sto-Rox). Freshman Rieley Loch's (Madison Township, Pa. / North Pocono) ensuing triple cleared the bases and tied the game at five-apiece.
The Lions took their first lead of the day in the bottom of the third when another Notre Dame error allowed House to score from second base.
The team's seventh run of the game was scored by Loch in the bottom of the fourth inning when the Gator catcher made an errant throw back to the pitcher. The freshman took advantage of the visitors' mistake and plated from third base.
Through it all, Boyd was stellar. She took over for Wolfe inside the circle in the top of the third and gave up just two hits and no runs in five innings of work while striking out eight Notre Dame batters. The win was her fifth of the season.
Boyd also went 2-4 from the plate, scoring a run and notching an RBI. Loch was 1-3 with a team-high two RBIs and a run scored while freshman Rachel Fisher (Lebanon, Pa. / Cedar Crest) went 2-3.
After surrendering three earned runs to being the opener, Wolfe was excellent in game number two. She went the distance, allowing just three hits in seven innings and striking out a season-high twelve Gators. Wolfe sat Notre Dame down 1-2-3 in three of the contest's seven stanzas.
The Lions got on the board first in the bottom of the opening inning when sophomore Erika Love (Harrisburg, Pa. / Central Dauphin East) singled and plated Boyd from third base.
Boyd scored again in the bottom of the third thanks to a Notre Dame error and Fisher stretched Penn State Harrisburg's lead to 4-0 by tripling to left field and driving in sophomore Alli Trutt (Halifax, Pa. / Halifax) and freshman Sydney Eelman (Lititz, Pa. / Warwick) in the fourth.
The Blue & White got an insurance run in the sixth when Trutt's sacrifice fly to left field scored freshman Jasmine Yanich (Harrisburg, Pa. / Susquehanna Township) from third. Wolfe picked up three of her dozen strikeouts in the top of the seventh and sealed the victory for the home team.
Boyd was 1-2 with a double and two runs scored while Fisher went 1-3 with 2 RBIs. Trutt and Love both notched RBIs as well.
The pair of wins made it three straight victories for the Lions and improved Penn State Harrisburg to 6-16 on the year. After the team ended its 13-game losing-streak on Sunday, Apr. 7, Harrisburg's recent three-game win-streak is extremely encouraging. After averaging little more than one run during the skid, the ladies have scored eight, seven and five runs in their last three outings.
The Lions will look to keep their momentum rolling this Friday, Apr. 12 when they travel to Valley Forge Christian for another non-conference doubleheader.