(Posted April 10, 2006)

Frostburg State 10, Juniata 5
Frostburg State 8, Juniata 6

HUNTINGDON, Pa. ? Visiting Frostburg State took advantage of a total of six defensive miscues and rode the strong pitching of Jen Cook to hand the Juniata College softball team a pair of non-conference losses in Huntingdon Monday afternoon. The Eagles fell by a 10-5 score in game one and suffered an 8-6 set-back in game two. Juniata is now 9-19 on the season while the two wins improved Frostburg State to 15-9 on the season.

After falling behind in game two Juniata rallied to tie the score in the bottom of the fifth. Liz Schmitt (H Frank Carey/Franklin, N.Y.) drilled a two-run home run in the fifth to knot the score at six. But the Bobcats answered with two runs in the top of the sixth. An RBI groundout from Meghan Dabkowski and an RBI single from Amanda Baldwin put the visitors in front again. The Eagles would be unable to answer over the final two innings. The two runs were the only two allowed by Lizzi Bartosik (Penn/Granger, Ind.) as she came on in relief for the final four innings and was charged with the loss.

After Frostburg State scored a pair of runs in the top of the first, the Eagles pushed across three runs in the bottom of the first. Abbey Sener (Donegal/Marietta) notched an RBI double and Schmitt added an RBI single to give Juniata the lead. Frostburg knotted the score with a run in the third as a run came home on a wild pitch. Jen Cook came on in relief for Frostburg State in the second, and Juniata promptly took the lead in the bottom of the inning with an RBI single from Leann Leymeister (Blue Mountain/Orwigsburg).

That was the final run the Eagles would get off Cook until Schmitt?s homer in the fifth. Cook went six innings allowing three runs on seven hits while striking out 11. Frostburg would move back in front with three runs in the third inning, which drove Juniata starter Elsann Machotka from the game. Three RBI singles made the score 6-4 in favor of the visitors before Juniata went on to tie the game in the fifth.

Renae Hobbs (Mount Union/Mount Union) and Schmitt each had three hits in the game, while Sener and Leymeister each had a pair of hits. Dabkowski led Frostburg State with three hits, with two RBI and two runs scored.

The two teams were knotted at four through four innings before the visitors scored five runs on four hits in the fifth. Meghan Burner provided the big blow with a three-run homer that drove Hobbs from the game. Hobbs was charged with the loss as she went 4 1-3 innings allowing nine runs, only five earned, on 11 hits.

The Eagles claimed the early lead again, though it came after Frostburg got a pair of runs in the first on a two-run homer from Bethany Seyler. The Eagles countered with three runs in the bottom of the frame as they capitalized on early wildness from Cook who walked two, and brought in two runs on a wild pitch.

Cook would settle in and earned the win as she went all seven innings, allowing five runs, four earned, on five hits with 10 strikeouts.

Frostburg reclaimed the lead with two runs in the third inning that put them in front 4-3. An RBI double from Sarah Savoye and an run-scoring single from Lydia Ratliff. The Eagles tied the score with a run in the second as Kayle Kachik (Maplewood/Cambridge Springs) drove in the tying run with a single before Frostburg put it out of reach with the five-run fifth. The Eagles got one run back in the bottom of the fifth, but Frostburg answered with a final run in the top of the sixth.

The visitors finished with 14 hits in the game, with Savoye leading the team with three hits and three runs. Five Eagles each had one hit in the game.

Juniata will be back in action on Tuesday with a conference doubleheader at Messiah.

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Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.