BLOOMSBURG, Pa. - The Bloomsburg softball team began the final week of regular-season play with a vital doubleheader sweep over Lock Haven Tuesday afternoon.
The Huskies (28-14, 18-10 PSAC East) trailed 2-1 after a two-run top of the third for the Bald Eagles (15-25, 9-21 PSAC East). Bloomsburg rattled off four runs in the bottom half of the frame to grab and hold onto a 5-2 win through seven innings. The Huskies continued their scorching stretch at the plate with a 13-2 victory in game two.
Mia Nemeth (Drums, Pa/Marian Catholic) led a balanced Bloomsburg lineup on the day with four total RBI, going 3-for-5 in the two games. Bella Culp (Harrisburg, Pa/Central Dauphin) was 4-of-5 for the afternoon, including a 3-of-3 day with two doubles and two RBI in the second contest. On the mound, Sarah Yamrick (Fort Myers, Fla./Bishop Verot) and Callie Sowers (Irwin, Pa/Hempfield Area) each had strong days, giving up just six combined hits and three walks in 12.0 total innings.
How It Happened:
Game One:
The day began with drama in both aspects of the play for the Huskies. After the leadoff batter walked and a sacrifice bunt moved the runner to second, Yamrick was dealing with an early predicament. Coming off an impressive week, the sophomore continued to build upon a recent trend of performances, first getting the three-hole hitter to look at strike three on a full count before forcing a fly ball in foul territory for out number three.
Culp started the game with some excitement, as the shortstop led off the game with a single to left field. An errant throw back into the infield skipped to the fence in foul territory on the opposite side, sending Culp off to the races and home safely for a 1-0 lead. Bloomsburg would get two more runners aboard, but three consecutive outs stalled a possible productive inning.
Lock Haven grabbed its only lead of the afternoon in the top of the third following a two-run home run. The Bald Eagles' nine-hole hitter singled weakly off the end of the bat into a gap in left field to turn over the lineup. On the second pitch of the at-bat against the leadoff batter, Lock Haven found a response to take a 2-1 advantage.
The lead was short-lived, as the Huskies mounted their comeback effort from the top of their lineup. Culp took the second pitch of the inning to first on a hit-by-pitch and eventually moved to third on smart base running. Bloomsburg then used back-to-back singles, an RBI base hit from Nemeth and an infield single from Taylor Kranzley (Northampton, Pa./Northampton), to tie the game at 2-2 with two runners aboard. The Huskies regained the lead with a long ball of their own, a three-run blast, and the team-leading 11th home run for Allie Wenrich (Dauphin, Pa./Central Dauphin) to build up a three-run edge.
Those three runs would prove to be all Yamrick, and Bloomsburg would need to come away with the result in game one. The sophomore locked in through her final four innings of action, allowing just two base runners on a single and a walk with five strikeouts to guide her team to victory.
Game Two:
The Huskies again capitalized on no small-ball antics in the first inning to find an early advantage. Culp led off game two with a two-bagger and moved up an additional base on a sacrifice bunt from Yamrick. The senior would again turn to her speed, racing home on a throw from center field on a sacrifice fly from Nemeth for an early 1-0 lead.
Sowers' display from the mound made quick work of the Lock Haven lineup, with seven of the first 12 recorded outs coming on three pitches or less. With another reliable pitching performance, Bloomsburg was able to unleash another stellar effort at the plate.
The Huskies began their gradual offensive build-up with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second. A two-out single from Sage Weidlich (Pittston, Pa./Pittston) put runners on the corners for Culp. The infielder delivered once more, sending a high-tailing ball to the fence in center field to plate two runs before getting thrown out attempting to leg a double into a triple. Back-to-back singles from Yamrick and Nemeth in the third paved the way for a pitching change for the Bald Eagles. Following a fielder's choice, Emma Little (Pittsburgh, Pa./Penn-Trafford) delivered on the second pitch of her at-bat with a well-struck line drive that sailed over the fence in right field for a three-run blast, a 6-0 advantage for Bloomsburg. The power did not stop there, as Reagan Wiest (Sunbury, Pa./Shikellamy) went back-to-back for a solo blast to left field and a seven-run difference.
The Huskies finished the job offensively with a six-run tally in the bottom of the fourth. Bloomsburg recorded four consecutive singles to load the bases, capped off by a two-run base knock for Nemeth. After the first out, Gianna Gombeda (Hazleton, Pa./Hazleton) stepped into the box as a pinch hitter and delivered her own two-run single to make it an 11-run game. A single from Wiest set up a two-on, two-out scenario for Josie Straigis (Greensburg, Pa./Greater Latrobe), with the sophomore dropping the two-strike pitch into right field for another two-run base hit and a 13-run lead. Lock Haven would score two in the fifth off another home run, a hit not enough to derail another dominant decision for the Huskies.
Numbers of Note:
6 - As part of a well-rounded performance on the day, several members of the team made notable contributions. The Huskies ended on Tuesday with six total multi-RBI efforts, five of which came in game two against the Bald Eagles.
8.8 - The difference maker for Bloomsburg over its last 10 games has been the collective effort from the lineup at the plate. In the stretch, the Huskies are averaging 8.8 runs scored per contest.
700 | 71 - Sowers continues to build her resume as one of the most accomplished pitchers in program history. With her five innings of work on Tuesday, the senior became the second pitcher in program history to accumulate 700 career innings pitched. With the win, Sowers moved into a three-way tie for the seventh-most victories in team history, a group featuring her head coach, Susan Kocher.
128 - Little continued her upward trek through the Bloomsburg record books with her resounding three-run home run in game two. The senior now sits with 128 runs driven in, the ninth-best mark in program history.
On the Horizon:
The Bloomsburg softball team is on the road for the final time in regular-season action on Friday, April 25, at 2:00 p.m. to take on East No. 1 seed and No. 12 East Stroudsburg.
