LANGHORNE, PA - Talk about getting hot at the right time.
The Crimson Eagles, entering the week in semi frantic mode after finding themselves amongst four teams battling for the final two playoff spots, catapulted themselves into sole possession of third place in the standings by winning their last five NEAC matches, including four monster victories in the past two days. The streak ties a season high for consecutive wins on the year and puts PBU in position to claim their first ever invitation to the conference playoffs.
But before the squad jumps to any conclusions, the Crimson Eagles must first focus on their final two doubleheaders of the regular season. By-and-large, two victories over their next four contests should allow the softball team into the postseason, barring any major upsets amongst the top teams. But as many squads unfortunately find out down the stretch, the only way to know for sure is to take care of business in the games you can control.
Thankfully, on Wednesday, PBU did just that.
After hitting .576 as a team during the first game of Tuesday's doubleheader against Wells College, PBU's bats drastically cooled off in game one of Wednesday's events. The Crimson Eagles sprinkled just five hits throughout the game and were limited to a .217 team batting average, their fourth lowest output of the year. But luckily, PBU had sophomore pitcher Betsy Ranck to bank on.
Ranck threw seven spectacular innings allowing just three hits, one walk, and -- most importantly -- no runs in the 1-0 shutout for PBU. It marks Ranck's fourth win of the year on the mound and her twelfth complete game in 13 starts.
PBU tabbed the only score of the game in the bottom of the third inning on a Jessica Ogden single that knocked in Caroline DeHart. PBU had some help from Baptist, however, as an error by BBC's first baseman ultimately allowed the score.
With both teams deadlocked the rest of the way, Ranck came through in the clutch. With two runners on and just one out, Ranck got back-to-back Baptist hitters to ground out to end both the inning and the game.
Contest number two saw a little more offensive proficiency as PBU churned out 10 hits and five runs in their first sweep of BBC in over a half decade.
Each team tagged three runs in the third, but PBU scored the go-ahead run in the fifth and topped things off with an insurance score in the sixth to win their twelfth contest of the season, surpassing last year's mark of 11 total wins in the process. The dozen victories on the year marks the most wins in a season in program history.
PBU left six runners on base for the game but struck out just twice in the win. Junior thrower Ashley Melendez pitched all seven innings allowing just six hits and three runs while striking out four at the plate.
Senior Liz Seiple continued her hot hitting by going three for five in the batter's box with a run scored. Sophomore catcher Jen Steward went three for six with a steal, while junior Bethany Hill finished with two hits and a team high 10 put outs defensively.
PBU will have a break from game action on Thursday but will return to the field on Friday to square off with the Lions of Penn State Harrisburg on the road. The first contest is set to start at 3:00 pm. The doubleheader marks the softball team's second-to-last regular season contests of the year.
