Elizabethtown College took on the Juniata College Eagles at home on Saturday for a highly contested Landmark Conference matchup between the 7th and 8th seeds while they continued their fight to secure a playoff berth. Before the first pitch, the Blue Jays took a few minutes to honor their seniors on the softball team, celebrating their last four seasons as part of the program. Coach Bekah Slattery gave seniors Brooke Huczko, Maddie Reever, Mikaela Benner, Haley Nedo and Gianna Anzideo a start for their senior day with Benner starting in the circle as pitcher for game one and Anzideo starting as pitcher for game two.
Game one began with a fairly even contest between the two sides. Juniata got the bats hot early, getting two runners on base with back to back hits, however, Benner shut down the side stranding both runners on base. The Eagles had another opportunity to break the tie in the third inning, finding a two out single and working a walk to put a runner in scoring position. Benner worked into a 1-2 count and struck out the batter to close out the side, negating the chance that Juniata had. Etown found an opportunity of their own in the bottom of the fifth inning, with sophomore Izzy Akelaitis making the most out of her pinch hitting chance by hitting a single and sophomore Jess Dunn advancing Akelaitis with another single. Despite two runners on with one out, Juniata was able to get out of the jam, stranding both runners on third and second respectively.
After going scoreless through five innings, the Blue Jays found a rhythm in the bottom of the sixth inning. After back-to-back singles by junior Hannah Long and first-year Lily Baldwin, first-year Morgan Carr was able to load the bases with the third hit of the inning. Reever reached base on a fielder’s choice after Juniata tried to end the inning with a double play, causing Long to score the first run of the game. The runs continued to pile on with singles by junior Sarah Birner and Dunn to knock in two more RBIs. Sophomore Lexi O’Brien added the sixth hit of the inning, recording an RBI after scoring Reever and keeping the bases loaded. Long in her second at-bat of the inning flew out to left field, however the damage had already been done as Etown led heading into the seventh inning 4-0. First-year Lauren Leshak came into the game in relief and closed out the game, securing the victory for the Blue Jays as the winning pitcher.
In game two, Juniata struck first with a two-run double that was rocketted into the left field corner. Etown struggled in game two to get the bats hot, with Carr, Dunn and Leshak picking up the only three hits of the contest, split evenly between the three. First-year Julia Bergen pitched 4.1 shutout innings for the Blue Jays, but it wasn’t enough as Juniata took game two with a score of 2-0.
In game one, Baldwin finished the game 2-for-3 with a run. Birner batted 1-for-2 with an RBI and a run while Dunn and O’Brien both finished 2-for-3 with an RBI each. Benner pitched five innings of shutout softball, allowing only three hits. Leshak finished the rest of the game with two shutout innings with two hits and a strikeout.
After this series, Etown moves to 15-13 on the season, passing Coach Slattery’s all time best win record at Elizabethtown College, passing her inaugural coaching season in 2022 where the team went 14-24. The Blue Jays sit in sixth place in the Landmark Conference, right behind the last spot in the playoff race, however, with their next home game on April 15 against Catholic University and on the road against Susquehanna University on April 18, the standings could quickly change.
