MIDDLETOWN, Pa. – Penn State Harrisburg's softball team split a non-conference doubleheader with Elizabethtown in the team's home opener at Courtney Pollock Memorial Field on Monday afternoon, March 21. The Lions rolled to a 14-3 victory in the opener before falling 5-2 in the nightcap.

GAME 1

Penn State Harrisburg (5-4) scored early and often and never looked back in a dominant 14-3, five-inning victory over Elizabethtown (6-7) in the first game of a doubleheader on Monday afternoon, March 21.

The Blue & White offense racked up 17 hits, including five doubles, in the win. Madelyn Krantz was a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate with a double and four runs scored. Madelyn Lehigh also scored four runs, while Steph Reider had a game-high four RBI.

Etown scored the game's first run in the top of the opening frame but the Lions quickly answered in the bottom half when Madelyn English's two-out single to right field plated Krantz and Lehigh. Carissa Yeager sat the Blue Jays down in order to begin the second and the home team added four more runs thanks to a bases-loaded walk by Olivia Herncane and a Reider single through left side that drove in Krantz and Lehigh for the second time each.

Lehigh, English, and Reider turned a pretty 6-4-3 double play to end the top of the third and the Lions added four more runs in the bottom half, all with two outs. Krantz, Lehigh, and Herncane hit back-to-back-to-back doubles before Reider, McKenzie Boozel, and English hit three consecutive singles.

The Blue Jays got a pair back in the top of the fourth thanks to a two-run inside-the-park home run but the Blue & White came right back with five more in the bottom of the stanza. A Reider double plated two runs and Delaney Nevius put an exclamation mark on the scoring with a bases-load, bases-clearing double.

GAME 2

Penn State Harrisburg (5-5) fell behind in the first inning and could never climb out of the hole in a 5-2 loss to Elizabethtown (7-7) in the second outing of a doubleheader on Monday afternoon.

Madelyn Krantz turned in her second strong offensive effort in as many games, finishing 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI. Carissa Yeager was also solid inside the circle for the second straight game, surrendering just one earned run in 6.2 innings of relief work.

The Blue Jays came out swinging in the top of the first and used a pair of home runs to jump out to a 3-0 lead. The Lions stranded a pair of baserunners in the bottom half of the frame but converted a pair in the bottom of the ensuing stanza when Krantz came through with a two-out, two-RBI single than pushed Krysten Moore and Delaney Nevius across.

Neither team managed another run until the top of the sixth when Etown used three hits to push the lead to 4-2. The Blue Jays got some insurance in the form of an unearned run in the top of the seventh and despite a one-out rally started by Samantha Weaver and Krantz in the bottom half, the Lions were unable to complete the comeback.

NOTABLES

- Madelyn Krantz had an outstanding day, going a combined 6-for-8 with a double, four runs scored, and a pair of RBI across both games.

- Madelyn Lehigh went 2-for-2 with four runs scored, two walks, and an RBI in game one.

- Steph Reider finished 3-for-4 with a double, four RBI, and two runs scored in the opener.

- Olivia Herncane, McKenzie Boozel, and Madeline English also had multi-hit first games.

- Carissa Yeager earned the win inside the circle in the first outing, allowing just three runs on seven hits to go along with four strikeouts.

- Yeager turned in another solid effort in the second game, allowing just one earned run in 6.2 innings thrown. She added five more strikeouts.

- Krysten Moore's double was Penn State Harrisburg's lone extra-base hit of game two.

- The Lions left seven runners on base in the nightcap.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Lions open conference play when they travel to Washington D.C. for a United East doubleheader against Gallaudet on Friday afternoon.

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