LHU Goes 2-1 in PSAC Elimination Round
Lindsey Hits Walk-off Dinger Against Kutztown
QUAKERTOWN – The Lock Haven University softball team (36-17) went 2-1 today in elimination games at the 2016 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Tournament.
Lock Haven beat Millersville 5-2 and downed Kutztown 5-3, before falling Bloomsburg 3-2 in the Bald Eagles’ third game of the day. All three games were elimination games as LHU’s postseason run stayed alive with the wins over Millersville and Kutztown, but the Bald Eagles were eliminated with the loss to Bloomsburg.
In all, the Bald Eagles went 3-2 at the PSAC Tournament. Lock Haven opened the tournament Wednesday with a 4-3 victory over Kutztown, but fell to No. 7 California yesterday, 7-2.
Lock Haven opened the day today with a 5-2 victory over Millersville in a game that was originally scheduled for yesterday, but got pushed to today because of the weather.
With the win over Millersville, LHU advanced to take on Kutztown for the second time in three days at the tournament. Millersville was eliminated from the tournament with the loss.
Lock Haven kept the good times rolling and beat Kutztown, 5-3.
In Lock Haven’s third and final game of the day, LHU was edged by rival-Bloomsburg, 3-2 despite every effort to rally.
The Bald Eagles 2-1 record today and 3-2 record at the PSAC Tournament pushed Lock Haven to 36-17 on the season.
Lock Haven has won 12 of its last 17 games.
Lock Haven 5 – Millersville 2
A three-run bottom half of the second inning was a key in the 5-2 win over Millersville. In all, Lock Haven scored its five runs on 10 hits.
The Bald Eagles also got another stellar outing from pitcher Bekah Slattery (Douglasville, Pa./Daniel Boone), who struck out eight. She scattered five hits on the way to her 21st win of the season.
Faith Ceely (Troy, Pa./Troy) had another big game at the plate, going 3 for 3 with a RBI.
Jodi Weaknecht (Kutztown, Pa./Kutztown) went 2 for 3 with a RBI and one run scored, and Slattery helped her own cause with two hits and a RBI.
Trailing 1-0 in the second, Michelle Holweger (Lansdale, Pa./North Penn) tied the game with one swing of the bat, homering to left field. LHU led 3-1 after two innings and the Bald Eagles added a run in the fourth and fifth inning.
| April 29, 2016 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
| VISITING TEAM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
| LOCK HAVEN | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | 5 | 10 | 1 |
Lock Haven 5 – Kutztown 3
The Bald Eagles kept their tournament run alive with a thrilling 5-3 victory over Kutztown.
Lindsey’s homer helped Lock Haven win, move on and eliminated Kutztown.
LHU opened the tournament on Wednesday with a 4-3 victory over Kutztown, but it was the Golden Bears, who jumped on Lock Haven first today. KU scored a run in the third, fourth and fifth and led 3-0 as the two teams headed to the bottom of the fifth.
It was Lindsey, who got the Bald Eagle-rally started in the bottom of the fifth when her sacrifice fly put LHU on the board. LHU trailed 3-1, but McKenna Garlock (Three Springs, Pa./Southern Huntingdon) tied the game at 3-3 with a two-RBI double to right-center field.
It was Garlock’s 16th double of the season, which tied her for the single-season school record with former All-American shortstop Courtney Hughes.
The game remained tied as the two teams went to the bottom of the seventh setting up the dramatic finish and Lindsey-fireworks. With two outs and facing a 2-2 count, Lindsey blasted a home run over the left-field fence that gave the Bald Eagles the thrilling walk-off win.
LHU’s five hits came from five different players, including Lindsey and Garlock, who both drove in a pair of runs.
Slattery pitched the final three innings and recorded the win, her 22nd of the season.
| April 29, 2016 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
| KUTZTOWN | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 1 |
| LOCK HAVEN | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 0 |
Bloomsburg 3 – Lock Haven 2
Bloomsburg jumped out to a quick lead and stretched it to a 3-0 lead after four innings.
Lock Haven’s first hit of the game came in a big way when Rachel Mouillesseaux (Endicott, N.Y./Endicott) led off the bottom of the fifth with a home run.
The home run cut the Huskie lead to two (2-1) and the Bald Eagles continued to rally, adding a run in the sixth.
Holweger’s RBI-single in the sixth made it a one-run game and the Bald Eagles put the tying run on in the bottom of the seventh, but Bloomsburg held on to edge Lock Haven, 3-2.
With the win Bloomsburg advances to the title game tomorrow, where it will take on California.
Slattery struck out three over seven innings.
| April 29, 2016 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
| BLOOMSBURG | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 1 |
| HOME TEAM | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
Up next:
Now the Bald Eagles wait to see if they will earn a bit to the 2016 NCAA Division II Tournament. The NCAA Selection Show is set for Monday, May 2 at 10 a.m. Lock Haven is 36-17 overall and was ranked No. 9 in Wednesday’s (April 27) edition of the NCAA Division II Atlantic Region rankings. The top-eight teams will earn a spot in the tournament and LHU can only hope its three wins at the PSAC Tournament over teams ranked ahead of them in the latest region poll (Kutztown, Millersville and Kutztown) move them up and into the field.
