HARROGATE, Tenn. - The Bloomsburg softball team wrapped up play at Abe's Invitational with two victories in two games, defeating Lewis 3-2 and Elizabeth City State 11-4.

The Huskies (3-3) started the day with their second win over the Flyers (12-9) by a score of 3-2. Bloomsburg again jumped out to an early lead and leaned on its pitching and defense to secure the win. Sophomore Sarah Yamrick (Fort Myers, Fla./Bishop Verot) pieced together her best collegiate start, tossing her first career complete game and striking out a career-high six batters in those seven innings. Yamrick limited a talented squad with a .319 team batting average to a 6-for-26 (.231) performance at the plate. Offensively, freshman Allie Wenrich (Dauphin, Pa./Central Dauphin) was the difference, sending her first collegiate home run over the left-center fence to put Bloomsburg up for good.

The Huskies put together their best offensive performance of the season thus far against the Vikings (3-9), with Bloomsburg plating 11 runs on 17 hits. Despite a slight scare in the middle innings, Callie Sowers (Irwin, Pa/Hempfield Area) picked up her second win of the weekend while striking out 12 batters to help get her team back on track.

How It Happened:

Game One:
Yamrick opened with a roaring start to Sunday's game by striking out the side to begin the first inning. The sophomore showcased tremendous command and movement, getting all three batters looking at the outside part of the plate. 

Both teams took similar approaches to get on the board first, but the arms from each side prevailed to keep the game scoreless. Bloomsburg got the first runner in scoring position of the game after a one-out walk from Carly Wywoda (Dupont, Pa./Holy Cross), and a sacrifice bunt from Sage Weidlich (Pittston, Pa./Pittston) put a runner on second with two outs. The Huskies would be unable to take advantage of the opportunity before turning over the inning. 

Yamrick faced her first jam of the day in the bottom half of the second with runners on second and third and one out in the inning following a sacrifice bunt from Lewis. The right-hander forced an infield pop-up to get out number two before a fly out to left field got Bloomsburg out of the inning unscathed. 

The Huskies leaned into the small-ball approach in the third to grab the lead. Shiana DeAngelo (Ringtown, Pa./North Schuykill) led off the inning, showing tremendous patience at the plate, recording her first hit of the season with a two-strike count. Bella Culp (Harrisburg, Pa/Central Dauphin) followed up with a perfectly placed bunt down the third-base line to run out a sacrifice attempt and turn it into an infield single. Yamrick successfully moved both runners on with her own bunt attempt to give Bloomsburg two runners in scoring position. With two outs, the Huskies took advantage of a ball that squeaked past the catcher and rolled to the backstop with enough time to allow DeAngelo to score and put Bloomsburg up 1-0. 

The Flyers did not shy away from fighting back into the contest, making it back-to-back innings with the first two runners reaching safely. Yamrick continued to assert herself well on the mound, getting the next batter to go down looking. After a weak pop fly to second base, Yamrick came back and got the batter to swing and miss through the pitch to strand multiple runners in scoring position for the second consecutive inning. 

The fourth saw both teams plate runs, but Bloomsburg took the greater swing. After Josie Straigis (Greensburg, Pa./Greater Latrobe) successfully started the inning with a leadoff single, the next two batters were retired for the Huskies, with Wenrich stepping into the box. The freshman displayed her poise and rocketed a hanging pitch over the outfield wall to set Bloomsburg up 3-0. The runs proved vital down the stretch, as Lewis plated its first run of the game in the second but, for the third time, left runs on the bases with two stranded in scoring position. 

The Huskies would not score for the rest of the game, but the lead proved large enough for Yamrick. The sophomore saw the lead cut to 3-2 after a solo home run in the bottom of the fifth. The second-year hurler did not miss a beat from then on, sending down the next eight batters in order with help from her defense to claim her first win of the season.

Game Two:
After two innings, the Bloomsburg bats were rocking with a five-run third inning. Emma Little (Pittsburgh, Pa./Penn-Trafford) got the inning going with a one-out double and made her way to third following a single from Mia Nemeth (Drums, Pa/Marian Catholic). A wild pitch gave Little the lane to race home before a Taylor Kranzley (Northampton, Pa./Northampton) double to make it 2-0. The lead doubled to four with a two-RBI from Welsh, and Grace Baker (Richboro, Pa./Quakertown), in her first start of the season, made it 5-0 as part of eight consecutive hits for the Huskies.

Bloomsburg tacked on an additional run in the top of the fifth to make it 6-0 after a passed ball allowed Reagan Wiest (Sunbury, Pa./Shikellamy) to slide into home safely. With a runner on and one out, Bloomsburg could not enforce the threat of an eight-run run rule going into the bottom half of the inning.

Showcasing tremendous fight, Elizabeth City State rattled off a four-run bottom of the fifth inning to put themselves back in reach and knock some wind out of the Huksies' sails. Heading into the fifth, Sowers had a perfect game with six strikeouts. 

Needing a spark, Wenrich led off the top of the sixth with a solo home run to regroup Sowers and the rest of Bloomsburg. With Sowers refocused, the Huskies continued to do damage with their bats as part of a four-run seventh inning. Baker and Culp slapped back-to-back one-out singles to set up Gianna Gombeda (Hazleton, Pa./Hazleton) for a two-RBI double. Wenrich continued her strong day at the plate with a single and swiped her second bag of the season to put two runners in scoring position with two outs. Kranzley capped off the showing with a single into right field to wrap things up at a seven-run game.

Numbers of Note: 
60 - With her victory Sunday, Sowers becomes the 11th pitcher in program history to amass 60 and one away from entering the top 10.

10 - As part of the team's hit parade against Elizabeth City State, much of the roster saw involvement to wrap up the weekend. 10 players recorded a hit, while six had multi-hit days.

1 - Yamrick's strength against Lewis was working out of difficult situations. The Flyers were just 1-of-8 hitting with runners in scoring position and 0-for-3 with multiple runners on the bases. The sophomore knew how to get out of innings, with Lewis 0-for-7 in the game when facing two outs.

9 - Entering the game against the Vikings, Bloomsburg totaled 10 RBI. The Huskies recorded nine in their final seven innings of action this weekend.

On The Horizon:
After playing its first six games on the road, the Bloomsburg softball team looks to Saturday, March 8, for its first home series at 1:00 p.m. against Seton Hill.