(Posted March 16, 2005)

Juniata 4, Washington & Jefferson 3
Washington & Jefferson 4, Juniata 1

Washington, Pa. ? The Juniata College softball team rallied from an early 3-0 deficit to claim a 4-3 victory in the first game of a non-conference doubleheader against Washington and Jefferson Wednesday afternoon. In game two, Juniata?s bats were stifled as the Presidents claimed a 4-1 victory. The split brought Juniata?s record to 5-4 on the season, while the two games were the first of the year for Washington and Jefferson.

The home team got started quickly as the Presidents pushed across three runs in the bottom of the first against Eagle starter Lizzie Bartosik (Penn/Granger, In.). But after allowing three runs on three hits in the first, Bartosik allowed just two more hits and no runs as she went the distance to earn the victory.

Juniata?s offense got going in the top of the second as the Eagles answered with a pair of runs. Abby Sener (Donegal/Marietta) and Leann Leymeister (Blue Mountain/Orwigsburg) led off the inning with back-to-back singles. Sener then came around to score on an error, and Leymeister was driven home on a Danielle Buzin (Central Bucks East/Jamison) single to make the score 3-2 Washington & Jefferson.

The Eagles then tied the score at three with a run in the top of the third. This time Kim Wagner (Middletown/Middletown) led off with a single, and eventually came around to score on a wild pitch.

The Eagles plated the go-ahead run in the top of the fifth when Renae Hobbs (Mount Union/Mount Union) doubled home Wagner to give Juniata the final 4-3 cushion.

Hobbs and Wagner both finished the game 2-for-4, while Buzin also pounded out a pair of hits.

Game two was a different story as Juniata managed just four hits off Washington & Jefferson starter Caryn Becker.

Eagle hurler Kim Stoia (Morris Hills/Rockaway, N.J.) was nearly as strong as she surrendered just eight hits and a pair of earned runs for the game.

The Presidents took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second on a lead-off double, followed by an RBI single from Stacey Bugle.

Juniata answered two innings later with a run of its own in the top of the fourth. Hobbs doubled with one out, and came home on an RBI single from Sener to knot the score at one.

It remained a 1-1 game until the bottom of the fifth when the home team pushed across three runs, two of them unearned to take a commanding 4-1 lead.

The Eagles put the lead-off batter on in the top of the sixth, but a double play quickly thwarted the comeback attempt. The game was called after six innings due to darkness.

Stoia dropped to 2-1 on the season with the loss. The freshman struck out a pair in five innings of work. Four different Juniata players each had one hit in the game.

Juniata returns to action on Saturday when the Eagles host Messiah College in the Commonwealth Conference opener for both teams.

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