WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – In the opener, the Lock Haven University softball team (5-4) cruised to a 9-0 win over Southern Connecticut State, before picking up a dominant, 12-1, win over Post University to close the day at the PFX Tournament in Winter Haven, Florida.
 
Game 1: W, Lock Haven 9 – Southern Connecticut State 0
 
Summer Peters (Lancaster, Pa./Lampeter-Strasburg) kickstarted the LHU offense once again with an RBI in the first inning to score Riley McClellan (Granville Summit, Pa./Troy) and hand the Bald Eagles the 1-0 lead.
 
LHU tallied four runs in both the fourth and fifth innings to round out the resounding 9-0 victory. A pair Southern Connecticut errors allowed two Bald Eagle runs to score, and Mikayla Ruppert (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty) laced an RBI double, before Rianna Trexler (Bellefonte, Pa./Bellefonte) notched an RBI single of her own to expand the Bald Eagle to 5-0.
 
In the fifth inning, the LHU bats exploded when Peters smashed a solo home run to right center, followed by Ruppert who capped the scoring with a three-run shot to give LHU the 9-0 advantage, which triggered the mercy rule at the end of the fifth inning.
 
Kinley Gioglio (Stroudsburg, Pa./Stroudsburg) got the start for LHU and pitched four innings of shutout softball. The redshirt-sophomore scattered just three hits and faced only 17 batters before Jada Schellhammer (Tamaqua, Pa./Tamaqua) pitched the fifth and final inning in relief to close out the Bald Eagles win.
 
LHU racked up its nine runs on 10 hits, including a quartet of Bald Eagles who each notched two hits. Peters, Ruppert, Trexler and Delaney Good (Mifflinburg, Pa./Mifflinburg) each collected two hits while Bella Schmitt (Dillsburg, Pa./Northern York) and Sydney Arrigale (Blackwood, N.J./Highland Regional) tallied one apiece.
 
Game 2: W, Lock Haven 12 - Post 1
 
The Bald Eagles wasted no time and hung eight runs on Post in the bottom of the first inning. McClellan drew a walk with the bases loaded to open the scoring, before Haley Lestician (Lawrenceville, N.J./Lawrence) cleared the bases with a grand slam to left field. Arrigale followed with a solo blast of her own and LHU led 6-0.
 
Morgan Karasek (Bangor, Pa./Bangor) kept the party going and launched a two-run blast to score Trexler and put LHU up 8-0 after the first inning.
 
Lock Haven kept the pressure on in the second inning and poured on four more runs. Lestician and Good each notched RBI singles and Trexler laced a two-RBI double to expand LHU's lead to 12-0.
 
Post grabbed a run back in the third inning, but Madison Waltman (Turbotville, Pa./Warrior Run) and Schellhammer kept Post in check allowing just one run as The Haven took home the 12-1 victory. Waltman pitched the opening three innings and allowed one run while striking out four, and Schellhammer closed things out with two shutout innings for LHU.
 
Up Next:
The Bald Eagles cap off the spring break trip to the PFX Tournament tomorrow with two more games. LHU meets Wayne State at 10 a.m. followed by Hillsdale at 12:15 p.m.