MANSFIELD, Pa. – The Lock Haven University softball team (27-16-1, 13-6-1 PSAC Central) downed host Mansfield University (17-13-1, 11-7-1 PSAC Central) 5-4 in Game 1 in their regular season ending Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Central doubleheader. The win was a big one for the Bald Eagles as it helped clinch the higher seed between Lock Haven and Mansfield for the upcoming PSAC Tournament.
 
The Bald Eagles used a huge seventh-inning rally in game two and came back to tie the game at 6-6. The game was called a tie and ended with a final score of 6-6 after being stopped because of darkness.
 
The game-one victory clinched the No. 2 seed from the Central Division. With the central's No. 2 seed in hand, Lock Haven will meet Eastern Division two-seed Shippensburg on Wednesday (May 1) in PSAC Tournament opening action.
 
Lock Haven won game-one 5-4. The Bald Eagles lead 5-0 going into the bottom of the seventh, but with playoff seeding on the line, the host Mountaineers didn't quit and plated four runs, but in the end, LHU held on the for the important victory.
 
The Bald Eagles scored their five game-one runs on 10 hits.
 
Rachel Gricoski (Frackville, Pa./North Schuylkill) homered in the second to put LHU up 2-0 and ace Bekah Slattery (Douglassville, Pa./Daniel Boone) struck out eight.
 
Gricoski finished 3 for 4 with three RBIs and Slattery had a pair of hits to help her own cause.
 
In the circle, Slattery scattered five hits.
 
In game two, the Bald Eagles closed the regular season with an epic four-run rally in the top of the seventh, thanks to one swing of the bat from Casey Carpenter (Spring Brook, Pa./North Pocono), who hit a grand slam to left-center field.
 
Gricoski homered again in game two.
 
With darkness a factor, the game was called and the final result is a 6-6 tie.
 
The 2019 PSAC Tournament opens Wednesday, May 1 at Veterans Park in Quakertown, Pennsylvania. LHU and Shippensburg will play at 3 p.m. on Wednesday.