WILMINGTON, Del. - The Bloomsburg softball team opened the 2024 campaign with a doubleheader sweep of Goldey-Beacom on Tuesday afternoon. 

Game one reached its climax with a seventh-inning surge from the Huskies' bats en route to an 8-1 win. In the first leg, Bloomsburg was led offensively by Alex Iseminger (Everett, Pa./Everett Area) (2-for-4, 2 2Bs, 3 RBI) and Mia Nemeth (Drums, Pa/Marian Catholic) (2-for-4, 2B, 3 RBI). Callie Sowers (Irwin, Pa/Hempfield Area) commanded the mound in her first outing of the season, throwing a complete game, allowing just one run off four hits and a walk while striking out 12 batters.

In game two, a balanced team approach from the plate propelled the team to an 8-3 win. A total of eight batters recorded multi-hit efforts, leading to 19 hits, the most in an opening week of play since posting 19 in 2017 at the Coker University Spring Tournament against the University of Charleston. 

Game One: 
The two teams were locked in a pitchers' duel for the first six innings. The Huskies threatened to score early after two first-inning singles but stranded both runners in the top half. In her season debut, Sowers' only miscues came in the first, allowing a lead-off double that bounced off a fielder's glove and a RBI single to make it a 1-0 game in favor of the Lightning. 

Bloomsburg found its way on the board through tactical play. Sage Weidlich (Pittston, Pa./Pittston) led off the inning with a bunt single to reach first. Kayleigh Lenner (Sunbury, Pa./Shikellamy) followed that up with a bunt single of her own, forcing an errant throw and getting Weidlich to third. With two outs, Iseminger smacked a two-out double to plate one and tie the game at 1-1.

The two teams would remain deadlocked until the seventh inning when the Huskies' bats came alive and put the game out of reach. With one out, freshman Sarah Yamrick (Fort Myers, Fla./Bishop Verot) put a double into the gap for her first collegiate hit and gave Bloomsburg a 2-1 lead. Weidlich reached on a second bunt single and stole a base before Lenner reached on a walk to load the bases. Emma Little (Pittsburgh, Pa./Penn-Trafford) worked out of a hole in the count to draw a two-out walk and tack on one more. 

The two-out rally continued as Iseminger came through with another two-out double to plate two more runs in for a 5-1 lead; after another walk to load the bases, Nemeth sent a ball off the top of the wall for a bases-clearing three-RBI double and cap off a seven-run seventh. Sowers wrapped up her first start by striking out the side to seal the victory. 

Game Two: 
The second half of the day's doubleheader had the teams trading runs throughout the game. The Huskies started the game with two runners in scoring position after Lenner led off with a single and Weidlich hammered a double with two strikes. Like in game one, the Huskies would fail to plate a runner in the first despite the two early hits.

Goldey-Beacom would strike first in the bottom half in Yamrick's first career collegiate start, giving the home team an early 1-0 advantage. In the bottom of the second, Bloomsburg loaded the bases off a pair of singles and an error from the Lightning defense. Lenner tied the game with a sacrifice fly to left field before Weidlich would give the Huskies a 2-1 edge. 

Yamrick got the first out of the inning with her first career strikeout and got out of the inning without allowing a run after a runner reached third in part to a tremendous throw from freshman Josie Straigis (Greensburg, Pa./Greater Latrobe). The outfield assist was the second of the day for the Bloomsburg outfield after Jayla Bartholomew (Williamsport, Pa/Williamsport) gunned down a runner in the first game. 

The Huskies added to their lead with two runs in the top of the third inning. Bella Culp (Harrisburg, Pa/Central Dauphin) drove in her first RBI of the season with an RBI single before Straigis drove in her first collegiate RBI with a single to make it a 4-1 contest. Goldey-Beacom would make it a one-run game again off a two-run home run in the bottom of the third.

Both sides would go scoreless in the fourth and fifth innings, with Bloomsburg getting some help from Kelly Eberly (Purcellville, Va/Homeschooled) in relief. Eberly retired the side in the fourth with a pair of strikeouts and in the fifth, worked around a runner in scoring position with another two strikeouts. 

The Huskies' bats caught fire in the top of the sixth, putting together a four-run top half. Iseminger started the inning with a double as Bloomsburg found itself with runners on first and second with one out, but the rally did not commence until two outs were on the scoreboard. Culp brought home two more with a single up the middle as Straigis drove her in with a double. Gombeda recorded her second hit of the day and added a RBI to make it 8-3 as Eberly escaped with a scoreless sixth inning of work.

Eberly capped off her relief outing by escaping a two-out threat from the Lightning, with Straigis flashing the leather again to secure the win and a 2-0 start to the season. In four innings, Eberly struck out five while walking three without allowing a hit or run.

On the Horizon: 
The Huskies head out on the road for their first tournament of the season in Harrogate, Tenn., for the Abe Invitational hosted by Lincoln Memorial University. Bloomsburg will take on Saginaw Valley State (twice), hosts Lincoln Memorial and PSAC foe Clarion from Saturday, February 24 to Sunday, February 25, beginning with a 12:00 p.m. start against Saginaw Valley State.