Game One: Elmira College 4, Morrisville State 3
Game Two: Elmira College 10, Morrisville State 2 (6 inn.)
Records: Elmira (3-3), Morrisville (0-10)
Location: Eldridge Park Stadium – Elmira, N.Y.
                                                                                          
ELMIRA, N.Y. -- Senior Maddy Johnson' 19 became the eighth player in program history to register 100 career hits, as the Elmira College softball team earned a pair of non-conference wins against Morrisville State on Wednesday afternoon. The Soaring Eagles edged the Mustangs, 4-3, in the opening game and then topped the visitors, 10-2, in a six-inning shortened game in the nightcap.
 
Game One
A three-run fifth inning by the Soaring Eagles was what ultimately decided game one of today's doubleheader, as the Purple and Gold turned a 3-1 deficit into a 4-3 victory.
 
A two-out single in the top of the third inning by Chyne Kennedy drove in a pair of runs to give the Mustangs an early 2-0 lead.
 
EC trimmed the advantage to just one run in the bottom of the fourth thanks some speedy base running by Sarah Garner '20. Bianca Palese '21 hit a slow dribbler that didn't leave the infield, but the Morrisville infielder attempted to throw Garner out at home. However, Garner slid under the tag to score and cut the Mustang lead to 2-1.
 
Kennedy, who was also Morrisville's starting pitcher, helped her own cause in the top of the fifth inning with an RBI single to left field that scored Ciera Sprague. The RBI was Kennedy's third of the game, as she looked to ride out the two-run lead in the pitcher's circle.
 
In the bottom half of the fifth, an error to lead off the inning allowed EC's Johnson to reach first base safely. A sacrifice bunt from Rachel Katzenberger '19 on the next at-bat advanced Johnson to second and eventually third base, as no one from Morrisville covered the bag.
 
Mckenzie Slaven '20 drove in Johnson from third with a sacrifice fly, aiding her own efforts in the pitcher's circle, as EC closed the gap to 3-2.
 
Garner followed the sac fly with a two-out six-pitch walk. Then, on the next at-bat, what should have been a fly out from Sam Chadbourne '19 turned into an error by Morrisville. The dropped fly ball in allowed Chadbourne to reach third base safely and score Garner from first, tying the game at 3-3.
 
Then, on the ensuing at-bat, Palese drove the first pitch she saw through the heart of the infield to score Chadbourne from third and give the Soaring Eagles their first lead of the game, 4-3.
 
On defense, Slaven sat the Mustangs down 1-2-3 in the top of the sixth inning but had to work a bit harder in the top of the seventh to secure the win.
 
In the seventh, Savannah Hobbie reached safely on a dropped fly ball, putting a runner on first with no outs.  However, some tough pitching by Slaven closed the door on a potential comeback, as she got the next batter to strike out, before retiring the next two on ground outs to clinch a 4-3 win for the Soaring Eagles.
 
Slaven had undoubtedly her best game of the young season, as the local product of Thomas A. Edison High School struck out a career-high 11 batters en route to her first win of the year. She allowed just two walks and six hits in 7.0 innings of work.
 
Offensively, Katzenberger went 2-for-3 at the plate, while Garner finished 1-for-2 with one walk and a pair of runs scored. Palese was 1-for-3 at the dish with a pair of RBIs. Johnson scored EC's other run in today's contest, while Felicity Brockhuizen '22 and Alexis Dinga '22 each logged one hit apiece.
 
Game Two
Thanks to some timely hitting and a slew of Morrisville errors, a potential nail-biter turned into an eight-run win for the Soaring Eagles in the nightcap.
 
The scoring started in the first inning, beginning with a leadoff triple from Johnson. The hit from Johnson was the 100^th career hit, making her just the eighth player in program history to reach the century mark. A walk and steal by Slaven put runners on second and third.  The added pressure showed, as a throwing error by the Morrisville shortstop allowed Johnson to score, before a ground out by Chadbourne a batter later drove in Slaven to put the Purple and Gold on top, 2-0.
 
Morrisville responded with a pair of runs in the top of the third inning, which knotted the score at 2-2, but a no-out triple by Garner in the bottom of the third inning scored Salven from first and put Elmira back ahead, 3-2.
 
A trio of Morrisville errors in the bottom of the fourth inning proved costly, as the Elmira women tacked on three additional runs. Samantha Jenkins '20, Johnson and Katzenberger all scored unearned runs on the errors to pad the Elmira lead to 6-2.
 
Elmira made it a 10-2 lead, and eventually a 10-2 win, in the bottom of the sixth inning, doing so with one out on the scoreboard.
 
Katzenberger began the four-run sixth inning with a one-out single, before Slaven reached safely on a dropped infield fly ball. Garner walked on five pitches on the next at-bat, setting the table for Chadbourne with the bases loaded.
 
With each base occupied, Chadbourne drove an outside pitch the opposite direction, sending the ball all the way to the corner of the right-field fence. The monster smash from Chadbourne not only cleared the bases, but the 6-foot-2-inch first baseman raced around the diamond and scored, completing an inside the park grand slam. The eight-run lead in the sixth ended the game by the mercy rule, as EC marched away with its third consecutive win, 10-2.
 
Sophomore transfer Ally Barr '21 got the start in the pitcher's circle in game two and did not disappoint. The local product of Elmira High School allowed just three hits, three walks and one earned run en route to her second win of the 2019 campaign. Barr struck out a career-high eight batters in the process, as she improved to 2-1 on the season.
 
Offensively, Chadbourne shined for the Soaring Eagles with a career-high five RBIs on a 1-for-4 showing at the dish. She also scored one run.
 
Johnson and Katzenberger each went 2-for-4 at the plate with two runs scored each. Garner was 1-for-3 with one run scored and a pair of RBIs, while Salven scored three runs with two walks and two hit by pitches. Jenkins was 1-for-2 in her first game of the series, which saw the third-year utility player draw one walk and score one run.
 
In Her Own Words…
Head Coach Rhonda Faunce shares her thoughts on today's doubleheader sweep…
"Climbing back into game one was super important to our mindset. Maddy [Johnson] is a tremendous player. She's also a great teammate as much as she is a great softball player. She never has a bad day and works hard every day."
 
"Slaven and Barr both threw well today. We have been working hard on spins and hitting spots; both are gaining confidence each day they pitch."
 
"On Sam's [Chadbourne) home run, I was more thinking she had a better chance of hitting it over the fence as opposed to an inside the park home run. When I saw the ball bounce away from the right fielder, I knew she had a chance to make it. Once she got towards third, I was sending her home with hopes they didn't make a good throw."
 
News and Notes

• Elmira has won three consecutive games, two of which ended in six innings.
• The Soaring Eagles are 3-1 at Eldridge Park Stadium this season.
• EC concludes a six-game homestand tomorrow afternoon.
• Elmira drew a season-high three walks in game two.
• Johnson became the eighth player in program history to record 100 career hits.
• Johnson moved into a three-way tie for second place in EC history for career stolen bases (28).
• Johnson scored the 50^th run of her EC career, just nine shy of cracking the all-time top-10 list.
• Slaven logged a career-high 11 strikeouts in game one.
• Barr registered a career-high eight strikeouts in game two.
• Chadbourne's five RBIs were a single-game career high.
• Palese's two RBIs were a single-game career high.

 
Up Next
Elmira concludes a six-game homestand tomorrow afternoon when the Soaring Eagles host Clarks Summit in a non-conference doubleheader at Eldridge Park Stadium. The opening pitch is set for 3:00 p.m.