After a 9-2 win in Friday's opener, Edinboro scored five runs in the top of the ninth inning of game two to sweep the Pitt-Johnstown softball team with an 11-7 victory in the Mountain Cats' 2021 PSAC and home-opener at V.E. Erickson Complex.
Sydney Flinn collected five hits in the doubleheader, and
Olivia Porter had four hits, including a two-run home run, for Pitt-Johnstown, which slipped to 0-4 overall and 0-2 in the PSAC West.
In game one, Edinboro struck for three runs in the top of the third. Lauren Gierlak's two-run homer to right-center got the Fighting Scots on the scoreboard, and Jolene Teller's fielder's choice ground ball scored Maura Pasquale from third.
Lauren Bush's solo homer to left field and Pasquale's two-run double to the gap in left-center in the Edinboro fourth increased it to 6-0.
Edinboro added two more in the fifth, before Flinn led off the Pitt-Johnstown half of the fifth with an infield single and Porter followed with a two-run homer to left
to cut the Mountain Cat deficit to 8-2.
Pasquale's solo homerun in the top of the sixth got one of those runs back for the Fight Scots and Edinboro went on to the 9-2 victory.
Porter went 2-for-4 with a homer and two RBI, and
Stacey Walling,
Bree Ginther, and Flinn accounted for the other three Pitt-Johnstown hits.
Alyssa Hileman suffered the loss for the Mountain Cats after allowing eight runs (6 earned) on nine hits over the first 4.1 innings.
Ashley Pagliei pitched the final 2.2 innings and held Edinboro to one run on one hit.
Macy Sral started and got the win for the Fighting Scots after limiting Pitt-Johnstown to a pair of runs on five hits in four innings. Dylan Claycomb secured the
three-inning save and held the Mountain Cats hitless.
In game two, Edinboro tied it at six with two runs in the top of the seventh, then added five more in the ninth in the 11-7 win.
Jolene Teller's squeeze bunt plated Gierlak and Mackenzie Quider's RBI groundout gave Edinboro a quick, 2-0 first inning lead.
Pitt-Johnstown got one back in the bottom of the frame when Porter singled, stole second, and eventually scored from third on a passed ball.
After the Fighting Scots made it 3-1 in the top of the second, the Mountain Cats came right back with two to tie it. Lauren Fox's RBI single to right field scored
Carly Santillo, who singled to lead off the inning, and
Stacey Walling doubled and scored from third on an Edinboro throwing error.
Santillo's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the third and unearned run gave Pitt-Johnstown its first lead of the day.
An Anna McGinnis solo homer in the Edinboro fourth tied it at four.
Taylor Mendicino drove in a pair with a base hit in the bottom of the fourth to give the Mountain Cats a 6-4 advantage.
Edinboro rallied for two runs in the top of the seventh to force extra innings, then scored five in the ninth, highlighted by Cheyenne Shugart's two-run homerun.
Flinn went 4-for-5 with two runs, while Mendicino had three hits and two RBI, and Walling and
Laura Fox each had three hits for Pitt-Johnstown. Porter added two hits, including a double and an RBI.
Kristen Coffay started and took to loss to fall to 0-2 after allowing nine runs on 14 hits in 8.1 innings.
With the sweep, Edinboro is now 2-0 overall and 2-0 in the PSAC West.
Pitt-Johnstown will complete the four-game conference series against the Fighting Scots in Edinboro on Saturday, before visiting Salem (WV) for a non-conference doubleheader on Monday.
