BLOOMFIELD, N.J. - The Bloomsburg softball team took game one of a doubleheader against Bloomfield, 3-0, before play was stopped and abandoned in the top of the fourth due to weather.
Callie Sowers (Irwin, Pa/Hempfield Area) controlled the tempo from the first pitch of the afternoon, pitching a shutout seven innings of work and taking a no-hitter through 6.2 innings. The junior finished the day with nine strikeouts, giving up just a single hit and walk for her second shutout of the season.
The Huskies improve to 11-6 on the season, while the Bears fall to 5-12 overall.
The Huskies were the stronger side from the jump due to the efforts of Sowers on the mound.
Bloomsburg looked to be in position to strike early, loading the bases after a lead-off walk and a pair of singles with one out. The Huskies could not convert in the situation, stranding all three runners.
Sowers' day started hot, striking out the side in the bottom half of the first to keep things knotted up.
Bloomsburg broke through in the third inning to jump out to a 1-0 lead.
Bella Culp (Harrisburg, Pa/Central Dauphin) opened the frame with a lead-off single before advancing to second on a fielder's choice. Senior
Kayleigh Lenner (Sunbury, Pa./Shikellamy) came through with the clutch at-bat, providing the offense with a RBI single.
Both pitchers settled into their grooves through the middle innings, with the Huskies again finding an opening in the sixth to grow the advantage.
Lenner once again sparked the offense in the sixth, opening the frame with a single. After Lenner moved to second on a sacrifice bunt,
Emmie Rowe (Hetlerville, Pa./Central Columbia) singled to center to put runners on the corners with one out.
Josie Straigis (Greensburg, Pa./Greater Latrobe) converted with two runners on, knocking a two-RBI triple past a diving defender down the left-field line to make it a 3-0 ball game.
Sowers closed shop in the final two innings, with the seventh-inning infield single being the lone base runner in her final five innings of work.
Straigis' two RBI on Wednesday move her season total to a team-leading 12, tying her for third-most among freshmen in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC). Sowers improves to 9-1 on the season, sitting atop the conference in ERA (0.43) and opponent batting average (.148).
On the Horizon:
The Huskies open conference play in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference on Friday, March 22, at 2:00 p.m. with a doubleheader against Shippensburg at Jan M. Hutchinson Field.
