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Box Score 2 WASHINGTON – Junior pitcher
Lacey Drolsbaugh (Lansdale, Pa.) threw her best game of the season here Wednesday afternoon as Gallaudet University hosted Penn State Berks in a United East softball doubleheader.
Drolsbaugh struck out a season-high eight batters as she went the distance against the Nittany Lions. There was only one pitch she would want back and that came in the seventh when Penn St.-Berks batter Hailey Mauger hit a grand slam to propel the visitors to a 4-0 victory in the first game.
Gallaudet (3-25, 0-10 United East) tried to bounce back in the second game but came up short, 9-1, to Penn St.-Berks (17-7, 10-0 United East).
Game 1: Penn St.-Berks 4, Gallaudet 0
It was quite the pitchers' duel between Drolsbaugh and Penn St.-Berks starting pitcher Paige Brightwell as both pitchers were dealing. Most of the early innings the batters were retired in order as GU recorded a hit in the first and third innings. Drolsbaugh struck out two out of three batters in the third inning.
Penn St.-Berks got its first hit in the top of the fourth inning and eventually loaded the bases before Drolsbaugh struck out Laurel Zubler swinging to end the threat.
Brightwell turned the tables in the bottom of the fourth as GU did the exact same thing, loading the bases, before
Olivia Wascher (Noblesville, Ind.) struck out swinging.
Drolsbaugh picked up two strikeouts in the fifth and in the bottom half the Bison had runners on second and third base but couldn't get a run in as
Kinsley Bond (Beulaville, N.C.) struck out looking on an outside pitch.
Penn St.-Berks bats came alive in the seventh as the Nittany Lions recorded three hits, including a double, to set the stage for Mauger's game-winning homer on a breezy day at the GU Softball Complex.
The Bison put up a fight in the bottom of the seventh as back-to-back walks would set-up runners in scoring position with one out. Brightwell got Drolsbaugh to strike out and Bond grounded out to end the game.
Drolsbaugh (2-10) finished with a line of four runs (three earned) on seven hits, two walks and eight strikeouts.
Brightwell (8-4) picked up the complete game shutout win as she surrendered six hits, passed out four walks and struck out nine Bison batters.
Game 2: Penn St.-Berks 9, Gallaudet 1
In the second game, Penn St.-Berks scored early and often against the Bison as Gallaudet coach
Justen Burns turned to
Lou Cherena (El Paso, Texas) to make her season debut in the circle.
The Nittany Lions scored two runs in the first two innings, increased their lead to 5-0 after the third inning and tacked on three additional runs in the fourth. Penn St.-Berks pushed across a ninth run in the top of the fifth to activate the eight-run mercy rule after five innings.
GU got on the scoreboard with a run in the bottom of the first when senior
Caitlyn Smith (Indianapolis, Ind.) doubled home
Olivia Taufu'i (Blackfoot, Idaho), who walked two batters earlier.
Cherena (0-1) took the loss as she pitched 3.1 innings and allowed seven runs on nine hits, walked four and hit one batter. Wascher came on to relieve Cherena and pitched the rest of the game.
Maura Gorman (3-1) earned the win as she threw a complete game and allowed one run on three hits, walked one and struck out six.
UP NEXT
Gallaudet will travel to Morristown, N.J., this Saturday, April 19, for a conference doubleheader at Saint Elizabeth University (16-16, 6-4 United East).
