Elsah, ILL. -- The Panthers played two solid games today against the Robert Morris Eagles. All three facets of the game were in sync today, allowing the Panthers to secure a win in game one and fight hard for extra innings in game two.
Game 1:Â Principia 5, Robert Morris 3
The Panthers came out strong on defense, shutting down the Eagles right away.
Leah Schaefer had an excellent game on the rubber, hitting her spots and setting up batters for ground balls and fly outs. After six solid innings of defense, the Panthers found themselves in a tough spot in the top of the seventh inning with the Eagles in scoring position. However, Schaefer continued to hit her spots and had an excellent defense backing her up which allowed the Panthers to get out of a potentially big inning.
Offensively, the Panthers came out on the attack from the start, putting up three runs in the first inning. After the Eagles scored a run in the top of the second inning, the Panthers answered with two more in the bottom of the third. The bats seemed to go quiet after the third inning, but the Panther defense was able to secure the win. Hits for game one go to
Emily Hewitt with a single,
Hannah Hathaway with a single and a double,
Leah Schaefer with a single,
Ashley Noville with a double, and
Tanya Marquardt with a single.
Game 2:Â Principia 4, Robert Morris 8
After an exciting display of grit in game one, the Panthers came back for game two ready to take another win. The defense continued to show focus and tenacity.
Leah Schaefer was back on the rubber for game two, continuing to hit her spots and draw ground balls and fly outs. The Eagles had several weak "bloopers" that fell in for hits and put the Panthers behind early. A few errors put the Panthers behind four runs which they did not begin chipping away at offensively until the sixth inning.
At the plate, the Panthers had several hard hit balls each inning that went right at Eagle defenders. It wasn't until the sixth inning that the Panther's balls were really finding gaps in the Eagle defense. Down two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, the Panthers tied it up to go in to extra innings with a two run home run hit by
Lauren Daugherty. The Panthers battled hard both offensively and defensively to get themselves to an exciting extra inning.
Extra inning: The Eagles hit several "bleeders" that fell in for cheap hits to score runs. Schaefer pitched an excellent inning, but the Eagles found little gaps the Panthers couldn't cover. Down four runs again in the bottom of the eighth inning, the Panthers fought back hard, loading the bases, but were unable to bring any runs across the plate.
Hits for game two go to
Emily Hewitt with a single,
Hannah Hathaway with two singles,
Lauren Daugherty with a home run,
Leah Schaefer with a single and a double,
Sarai Marcano with two singles, and
Ashley Noville with a single.
Up Next:Â
The Panthers will face MacMurray College on Saturday at home for a conference double header at 1:00 & 3:00 pm.
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