INDIANA, Pa. –
Stefanie McCoy (New Paris/Chestnut Ridge) and
Meghan Carney (Corry/Corry) combined for six hits and drove in four runs and
Alexa Campbell (Manheim/Manheim Central ) was victorious in the circle in game one as the three seniors helped IUP to a conference softball sweep of visiting Pitt-Johnstown on Senior Day at Podbielski Field.
The three seniors – McCoy, Carney and Campbell – were honored in between games of Friday's home twin bill, as the Crimson Hawks defeated UPJ by scores of 7-3 and 12-4.
McCoy finished the day 4-for-7 with two RBI and two runs scored while Carney went 2-for-8 with a double, two runs scored and drove in two runs.
Campbell went the distance in the circle in the opener, allowing three earned runs on six hits while striking out a season-high eight batters to tally her eighth victory of the season. The right-hander allowed a run in each of the first two innings, but settled down, scattering three hits the rest of the way. Campbell rung up two batters in each the fourth and seventh innings, as six of her strikeouts came in the final 11 outs of the game.
After getting down 2-0, the Crimson Hawks gave Campbell some run support, tallying three runs in the second and one more in the third to take a 4-2 lead. A double by
Nikki Rzodkiewicz (Erie/Harborcreek) in the fifth put the Crimson Hawks on top 5-2 while
Bryanna Lonick (Burgettstown/Burgettstown) drove home two more runs with a single in the sixth to give IUP a comfortable 7-2 lead. UPJ added one more run in the seventh before Campbell shut things down to give the Crimson Hawks the day's first win.
UPJ against scored first in game two, but the Crimson Hawks answered early two in the bottom half of the first to take a 2-1 lead. Three more runs came across home plate in the second, highlighted by a run-scoring single by McCoy that brought two runners home.
The Crimson Hawks added runs in the third and fifth to go up 7-1 before UPJ added three in the sixth to close its deficit to three runs.
IUP then wrapped things up in the bottom half, scoring five runs to earn the mercy rule victory. Scoring started with a solo home run by
Rachel Francis (Jefferson, OH/Jefferson), and also included run-scoring hits by Carney, Lonick and
Taylor Barna (Easton, Pennsylvania/Easton Area High School ).
Amanda Spindler (Brownsburg, IN/Cathedral) earned the win in game two, giving up four earned in five innings.
Emily Hofmann (Dublin/Pennridge) came on in the sixth to get the final three outs.
The Crimson Hawks tallied 26 combined hits on the day compared to UPJ's 12. They improved their record to 14-18 overall and 12-10 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Western Division, moving them into fourth place.
IUP will continue its run of five doubleheaders in five straight days tomorrow, traveling to Edinboro to take on the Fighting Scots. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.
For up-to-date game information, visit www.IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk.
