Softball improves to 4-2 with wins over Wesley, PSU-New Kensington

SURFSIDE BEACH, S.C. – Juniata College softball improved to 4-2 overall with wins over Wesley College and Penn State New Kensington, as the Eagles' spring break trip in Myrtle Beach, S.C., continued Wednesday.

Juniata posted a 3-0 win over Wesley in the morning's first game of a split doubleheader, and returned in the afternoon to capture a 12-6 victory over New Kensington.

The Eagles scored single runs in the first, third, and fifth innings, while Kelsea Decker (Waynesboro, Pa./Waynesboro) pitched a complete game one-hit gem. Decker walked three and fanned eight Wolverine batters on her way to her second win of the season.

Rachel Smith (Martinsburg, Pa.) scored the game winner for Juniata in the first after reaching on a lead off double, advancing on Ali Vogatsky's (Johnstown, Pa./Central Cambria), and crossing on a wild pitch.

Vogatsky singled home Paige Robertson (Altoona, Pa./Altoona Area) in the third, after Robertson got aboard with a two-out single. Vogatsky also plated the Eagle run in the fifth, scoring Smith with a base hit.

Juniata pounded out its three runs on seven hits, led by Vogatsky's 2-for-3 at the plate with two runs batted in. Wesley got a runner past first base just three times, with the Wolverines held to three-up, three-down in the first, third, and fourth innings.

After allowing New Kensington to take a 4-0 lead with two runs in the first and second innings, Juniata answered with six runs in the bottom of the second.

Jen Ashcraft (Bellefonte, Pa./State College Area) scored two of those runs on her single, later crossing on a Smith double. Robertson doubled home Smith and Erin Francis (Parkton, Md./Hereford) later in the frame, with Meghan Decker (Waynesboro, Pa./Waynesboro) eventually driving in Robertson with a base hit.

The Eagles added three runs in the third. Steph Frith (Pottstown, Pa../Pottsgrove) opened the inning by getting aboard on a error by New Kensington shortstop Bridget Fisher, and was sacrificed over to second by Katie Schroeder (Kempton, Pa./Kutztown). Juniata moved runners around with three straight singles, followed up by Robertson's two-out, two-run double.

Frith and Francis singled home runs in the fourth, and the Eagles added a single run in the fifth. New Kensington added single runs of their own in the fourth and fifth innings, but despite 10 hits were unable to gain ground on Juniata in the latter innings.

Smith started in the circle for Juniata, and allowed four runs on six hits in two innings of work. Kelsea Decker came on in the third, allowing four more New Kensington hits while holding the Lions to just two more runs.

Juniata plays a single game against Wesley on Thursday, March 8, at 9:30 a.m. in Surfside Beach, S.C.

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