INDIANA, Pa. – Freshman Olivia Gregorich (Sidman, Pa./Forest Hills) hit a walk-off home run in game one and classmate Renee Wall (Topton, PA/Brandywine Heights) finished 5-of-5 with three runs batted in to help lead the IUP softball team to a pair of wins over visiting Clarion Wednesday at Ruth Podbielski Field.
 
The Crimson Hawks won by scores of 6-4 and 8-2, improving to 12-10 overall and 6-4 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Central Division. The wins mark four straight for the Crimson Hawks, and six of their last eight.
 
Gregorich's homer came with one down in the bottom of the seventh inning, breaking up a 4-4 tie by parking it over the fence in left center field. It's the freshman's second homer of the season.
 
IUP scored the first two runs of the game with an RBI single by Bryanna Lonick (Burgettstown, Pa./Burgettstown) in the first inning. Clarion came back with three in the second and took a 4-2 lead with another in the third.
 
Lonick made it a 4-3 game with another RBI single in the bottom half, and Wall tied the game in the fifth inning on a double down the leftfield line, scoring Alaina Montgomery (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield).
 
Starting pitcher Lauren Zola (Pittsburgh, Pa./Seton-La Salle) settled down after giving up four runs in the first three innings, giving up just two hits the rest of the way. She went the distance, scattering five hits and striking out eight batters to improve to 6-5 on the year.
 
Big inning leads to big game two win
In game two, IUP opened up the scoring in the first inning with an RBI triple by Kaitlyn Beers (Reynoldsville, Pa./DuBois Area High School) and a run-scoring single by Wall. After a couple of Clarion runs in the second and third, the Crimson Hawks scored five runs on five hits in the fourth, highlighted by a two-run single by Kassie Kesneck (Houston, Pa./Chartiers-Houston).
 
Megan Risinger (Creekside, Pa./Marion Center) picked up the win in the circle, giving up just one earned run in the full seven innings to improve to 5-5 on the year.
 
10 different Crimson Hawks collected a hit Wednesday, led by Wall's five. Montgomery went 4-for-8 and Beers finished 3-for-7. Wall, Lonick, and Kesneck each drove in three runs in the doubleheader.
 
Up next
The Crimson Hawks have a big home slate on tap for the weekend, hosting divisional doubleheaders with Mansfield (7-10, 5-7) Friday and Lock Haven (24-10, 12-0) Saturday. IUP will celebrate Senior Day between games against Lock Haven.
 
Follow
For up-to-date game information, visit www.IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP softball on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk and @IUPsoftball.