LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – Blaire Balestrini hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the eighth to lead the Lock Haven softball team to a 7-6 victory in game two to secure a sweep over East Stroudsburg in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) doubleheader at Lawrence Field on Tuesday. Lock Haven soared to a 5-1 victory in game one.
With the sweep, Lock Haven improves to 14-12 overall and 6-6 in the PSAC, while East Stroudsburg falls to 16-12 on the season and 4-6 in conference play.
The Bald Eagles have won three of their last four games after splitting with Kutztown yesterday, with two wins coming in extra innings.
Game 1: Lock Haven 5, East Stroudsburg 1
The Haven soared to a 5-1 victory in game one behind a complete team effort.
Keiva Middleton was excellent on the mound for The Haven, going six-complete innings, while allowing just one run on six hits and striking out four.
Talia Ross pitched a scoreless inning of relief in the seventh to slam the door on the victory.
At the dish, six different players recorded hits, led by a 2-for-3 (3B) effort from yesterday's walk-off hero
Evelyn Osborne.
Hailey Irwin doubled and knocked in two runs, while
Blaire Balestrini,
Maci Brodzina and
Olivia LaMeau also picked up RBIs.
Game 2: Lock Haven 7, East Stroudsburg 6
In game two, the Bald Eagles opened the scoring with a solo run in the top of the first thanks to an RBI double by
Hailey Irwin.
However, ESU rallied for five runs in the top of the third to build a 5-1 lead.
Abby Robertson took matters into her own hands by driving in three runs over the ensuing three innings to trim The Haven's deficit to 5-4 heading into the seventh.
ESU added in insurance run in the top half, but The Haven knotted the score in the bottom of the seventh thanks to a pair of sacrifice flies by Irwin and
Faith Persing.
Ross, who entered the game in relief in the fifth, shut the door in the seventh, before Balestrini played the hero with a single up the middle to score
Madison Melius as the game winner.
Ross tossed three innings without allowing an earned run to pick up her team-leading ninth victory of the season.
Balestrini (2B), Brodzina and Robertson each finished with a pair of hits to headline the offense.
Next up for The Haven:
The Bald Eagles hit the road for a PSAC East doubleheader at Shippensburg starting at 2 p.m. on Friday, April 3.
