Score: Lycoming College 8, Elmira College 0 (5 inn.)
Score: Lycoming College 3, Elmira College 1
Records: Elmira (0-2), Lycoming (9-1)
Location: Shangraw Athletic Complex -- Williamsport, Pa.

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. -- The Elmira College softball team dropped both ends of its season-opening doubleheader against Lycoming College on Wednesday afternoon, as the Warriors took the first contest by an 8-0 final score, before edging the Purple and Gold 3-1 in the nightcap.

Game One
The Warriors, who opened their 2019 spring with seven wins in eight games in Florida last week, got the best of the Soaring Eagles in their first game of the year. Lycoming outhit EC 9-to-1 and posted crooked numbers on the scoreboard in the third and fourth innings to cruise to victory in five innings.

In her first start as a Soaring Eagle, Ally Barr '21 logged a pair of scoreless frames in the first and second innings. She struck out one batter in each inning and to strand a pair of runners. However, in the third, an RBI single and an error on the same play allowed the Giants to take a 2-0 lead. Keystone then tacked on six more in the following inning on four hits and one EC error.

Elmira's lone hit came off the bat of junior third baseman Sarah Garner '20 in the top of the fifth, but Mikayla Aldenderfer preserved her shutout by inducing three consecutive popups.

Game Two
The nightcap was a much different story for both sides, as the two teams battled through four scoreless innings in a pitcher's duel between McKenzie Slaven '20 and Keystone's Liz Nace. Slaven retired the first seven batters she faced, and after stranding a pair on the bases in the third, went 1-2-3 through the Giants' side in the fourth.

A two-out RBI base hit gave the hosts a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth, but the Soaring Eagles answered in the next half inning with a run of their own. Senior Maddy Johnson '19 reached safely with an infield single, stole second and scored on a Slaven single back up the middle.

EC nearly escaped the bottom of the sixth with the score tied at 1-1, but a pair of errors proved lethal. With two runners in scoring position and two away, back-to-back errors at first base allowed the game-winning runs to score.

Garner led off the top of the seventh with a double, but Aldenderfer returned to the circle to close the contest for the Giants.

News and Notes

• Johnson and Garner led the Soaring Eagles with two hits apiece.
• Johnson is three hits away from reaching 100 career hits.
• Slaven and Bianca Palese '21 each recorded one hit for Elmira.
• Freshmen Alex Brockhuizen '22, Felicity Brockhuizen '22 and Alexis Dinga '22 each made their first collegiate starts.
• Barr, a transfer student-athlete, debuted for the Soaring Eagles as the starting pitcher in the first contest.

Up Next
Elmira returns to action on Thursday, March 21, when the Soaring Eagles open Clarks Summit University for their 2019 home opener at Eldridge Park. The first pitch for the opening game of the doubleheader is set for 3:00 p.m.