Steve Finkernagel

Jordan Borger was one of three Lady Colonels to go deep against the Warriors Thursday

WILKES SOFTBALL FALLS TWICE AGAINST LYCOMING

4/3/2014 7:55:00 PM

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

WILKES SOFTBALL FALLS TWICE AGAINST LYCOMING

EDWARDSVILLE – The Wilkes University softball team dropped a pair of non-conference games against visiting Lycoming College Thursday afternoon at the Ralston Athletic Complex. Lycoming took game one 10-5 before completing a comeback in a 9-8 victory in game two.

Wilkes slips to 2-14 overall following the losses, while Lycoming improves to 7-8 on the season.

Game one remained scoreless until the Warriors took advantage in the fourth inning when two bases-loaded walks put Lycoming ahead 2-0. The game broke open when Nikki Marianelli drilled the ball to center field driving in two more runs. Ashley Witmer capped off the rally with a two-run double upping the Lycoming advantage to 6-0.

Lycoming scored two more runs in the sixth, but Wilkes started to rally in the bottom half of the frame as Brooke Limeberry (Easton, PA/Easton) drove in a run to get Wilkes on the board. Emily McGrath (Upper Darby, PA/Drexel Hill) then connected on her first home run of the season, a three-run shot to left-center field, bringing Wilkes back to within three at 8-5.

The Warriors then responded with two runs of their own in the seventh inning to seal the victory.

Alysha Bixler (Williamstown, PA/Williams Valley) dropped to 1-6 in the circle going four innings allowing six runs on six hits. Meghan Kisela (Schuylkill Haven, PA/Blue Mountain) entered in relief allowing four runs (two earned) on five hits.

Game two opened on a Limeberry single to left center field, bringing in the game's first two runs early in the first inning. Jenna Graziano (Hawthorne, NJ/Hawthorne) also collected an RBI hit in the frame, one of two base hits in the contest.

In the third, Lycoming's Elisa Novak brought in two runners with a shot off the left-center wall, cutting the Lady Colonels lead to 3-2. Two more Wilkes runs crossed the plate in the bottom of the inning thanks to a Lycoming miscue at shortstop pushing the lead to 5-2.

Jordan Borger (Kunkletown, PA/Pleasant Valley) led off with a homer to center field in the fourth and Kisela added to the lead with an RBI single as Wilkes led 7-2.

After adding one run in the fifth, Lycoming exploded for six runs in the game-deciding sixth inning to make the comeback complete. Kristi Weaver started off the fifth with a solo homerun for Lycoming, chipping the Wilkes lead down to 7-3. In the sixth, the Warriors used a bases loaded walk and two RBI singles to take a 9-7 advantage. Lacey Bixler (Williamstown, PA/Williams Valley) added her first collegiate home run in the bottom half of the sixth to cut the lead to one, 9-8, but the Lady Colonels would go down in order in the seventh unable to rally back for the win.

Haylie Phillips (Rome, PA/Northeast Bradford) recorded the loss in the circle in game two going all seven innings allowing five hits and nine runs (seven earned) striking out three.

Wilkes returns to Freedom Conference play Saturday hosting cross-town rival King's College at 1:00 p.m. at the Ralston Athletic Complex.

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