CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. – On the final day of its 2013 season, Penn State Harrisburg fought hard to the end. Twice. And despite valiant efforts by the Blue & White players, the Lions fell just one run short of victory. Twice. The ladies fell to defending North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) South Division champion Wilson 3-2 and 10-9 in both games of a doubleheader on Sunday, Apr. 28.
If one facet of the game has consistently hurt Penn State Harrisburg this season, it's the team's propensity for allowing errors to lead to unearned runs. Unfortunately, on the last day of the season, the trend continued.
Sophomore pitcher Gabrielle Wolfe (New Milford, Pa. / Blue Ridge) threw a complete six inning game in the opener and allowed just one earned run. Three Harrisburg errors, however, led to two of Wilson's three runs being of the unearned sort.
The Phoenix jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning and the Lions managed just one hit in the first four stanzas. Wilson picked up an insurance run in the bottom of the third but the visitors finally showed some life in the away half of the fifth.
Freshman Jennifer Bear (Lebanon, Pa. / Cedar Crest) led off the inning with a walk and fellow frosh Jasmine Yanich's (Harrisburg, Pa. / Susquehanna Township) sacrifice bunt moved her along to second base. Two batters later, senior Kara Boyd (Alexandria, Pa. / Juniata Valley) singled and drove in Bear to cut the deficit to 3-1.
The Lions had their best chance of the contest to put multiple runs on the board in the top of the seventh. Freshman Sydney Eelman (Lititz, Pa. / Warwick) began the stanza with a walk and Bear and Yanich notched back-to-back singles to load the bases with no outs. Wolfe's sacrifice fly to center field scored Eelman and brought Penn State Harrisburg to within one tally. Unfortunately, the final two batters struck out and the Blue & White comeback fell just short.
The second game saw more of the same. More Penn State Harrisburg errors led to more unearned runs. This time it was Boyd, in her final career start, who manned the rubber. She went 7.1 innings inside the circle and gave up seven hits and six walks but just six earned tallies. Five of Wilson's runs were unearned.
Penn State Harrisburg actually outhit the Phoenix 12-7 in the nightcap but it wasn't enough on the afternoon. Boyd went out with a bang in her last collegiate game, going 3-5 from the plate with a two-run home run in the top of the fourth. She also recorded three RBIs and scored twice. Wolfe was 2-5 with three RBIs and two runs of her own.
Loch notched an RBI double and scored two runs while freshman Rachel Fisher (Lebanon, Pa. / Cedar Crest) added an RBI. Bear, Yanich and senior Danielle Ringel (McKees Rock, Pa. / Sto-Rox) all scored a run apiece in defeat.
Trailing 8-4 in the bottom of the fifth stanza, Wilson chipped away over the course of the next three innings and forced extras thanks to plating the game-tying run in the bottom of the seventh. Penn State Harrisburg grabbed a one-run advantage in the top of the eighth when a Fisher single scored Loch from third base but the home team responded with an RBI triple and ensuing RBI groundout that gave the Phoenix the walk-off win.
The thrilling yet disappointing losses were two more in the long line of close defeats suffered by the Blue & White this past season. The Lions finished the 2013 season at 15-25 overall and 8-12 against NEAC competition.