The Edinboro bats erupted this weekend, sweeping West Chester (9-3, 26-9) and Slippery Rock (4-6, 19-16). The Scots tagged the 22nd-ranked Golden Rams for double-digit run totals in each game of a doubleheader winning 13-4 and 12-11 Saturday. Edinboro continued its hot-hitting Sunday, defeating Slippery Rock 6-2 and 8-2.
The long trip to West Chester had no exhausting affect as the Scots scored seven runs in the first. Freshman shortstop Marissa Pullo led off with a triple and was driven in by second baseman Jessica VanDamia’s double to left field. Sophomore catcher Aimee Sisson continued the rally bombing a two-run home-run to left.
Freshmen designated hitter T’ana Abt doubled home first baseman Ashley Black. Centerfielder Kari Falk sustained the inning bringing home Abt with a double. Pullo drove home Falk and Brittney Price for the final two runs, doubling to right before being thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a triple.
The Rams put three on the board in the bottom of the first, but pitcher Beth Mullins would only allow one more the rest of the game. Edinboro put four more on the board in the third inning.
Pullo plated Price with her second double of the game. Left fielder Alex Gierlak came home on a wild pitch. Black blasted a double to leftfield to score Pullo. Third baseman Stephanie Cassidy put one more on the board when she singled home Sisson. Edinboro scored its final two runs in the fourth inning with back-to-back solo homeruns by Falk and Price.
“Everybody hit, it was unbelievable,” head coach Dan Gierlak said. “It was a lot of fun.”
Fans who made the trip to West Chester were in for a treat, as game two was not decided until extra innings. Down 4-5 through four innings, Edinboro roared back with four runs in the fifth.
Carrie Hall was driven home by VanDamia's single to left. Sisson drove in Price and VanDamia with a double to left. Sisson came home on a throwing error making it 8-5 Edinboro halfway through the fourth. The Scots put two more on the board in the fifth. The Rams would not back down though, tying the game in the bottom of the sixth with a four run rally of its own.
“It was a heck of a game,” Gierlak said.
Edinboro finally put West Chester away in the eighth. Cassidy blasted a two-out solo home run off of Kate Skokowski. Mullins was able to contain a couple of West Chester hits in the bottom of the inning, finishing off the Rams by striking out second baseman Kelsey Rapp. Mullins finished the day with two wins, and 15 strikeouts in 13 innings pitched.
“Every time they’d come back we'd put more on the board,” Gierlak said. “Our kids never quit.”
The Fighting Scots traveled to Slippery Rock on Sunday in a three-way tie for second place with The Rock and Mercyhurst.
Game one was a pitchers’ duel all the way into extra innings. Mullins and Shaylee Ianno were on their game. The lone run in regulation for the Scots came in the fifth. Hall singled and advanced to second when leftfielder Natalie Atkinson bobbled the ball. Price lined one back up the middle to put the Scots on top 1-0. Slippery Rock tied it up in the sixth, and the game went quietly into the ninth.
Edinboro tore the game open in the top of the ninth. Jade Thrower broke the silence of the duel with a single down the first base line. Hall beat out a bunt, and Caitie Weber loaded the bases when Whitney Warmus dropped a throw while covering first. VanDamia put Edinboro ahead, bringing home Thrower on a groundout to short.
Hall scored on an error, and Sisson stepped to the plate with runners on second and third. Sisson worked the count full before hitting a three run laser over the leftfield fence.
“She hit it off the dog-gone scoreboard,” Gierlak said. “Big players come up at big moments in the game.”
The bats were rolling early for the Scots in game two. In the second, Price drove in Hall with a double to center. Price scored when Vandamia grounded out, and Sisson plated Weber on a single to left. Black then led off the third with a solo-shot to left field. Slippery Rock kept it interesting scoring two in the bottom of the third to make it 4-2 Scots.
VanDamia tallied her second RBI of the game when she batted in Weber with a double to left field. The left field scoreboard was hit for the second time in the afternoon when Price nailed it with a two-run shot in the fifth. Black ended all doubt in the seventh with her second solo home run of the day to make it 8-2.
“There was some shots,” Gierlak said. “Kids are getting comfortable with their swings.”
The Scots finished the weekend 7-5 in conference and 17-12 overall, putting Edinboro in sole possession of second place in its division. “Our first playoff game was today,” coach Gierlak said. “We are in control of our own destiny now.”
Edinboro returns home against Gannon on Friday.
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