The Gannon University softball team went 2-3 over the past week with wins over Fairmont State University and Glenville State College.
Gannon shut out Fairmont State Friday, 7-0, and had an offensive showcase against Glenville State Saturday defeating the Pioneers, 13-2, in five innings.
Currently, the Knights sit at an even 8-8 overall on the season heading into their next outing, which won’t come until Friday, March 25, when they open PSAC play at rival Mercyhurst. The first game of the doubleheader is set to start at 1 p.m.
The shutout of Fairmont State began after junior Jen Foran laced one over the fence with two outs in the first inning to put the Knights up 1-0.
After freshman Ashley Bower, sophomore Allie Salerno and freshman Kherrin Morgan roped together three singles in the second inning Gannon was able to put another tally on the board to take a 2-0 lead.
In the third, Moran fired up the offense as she led off with a single and scored on Alyssa Bates’ two-run home run, making the score 4-0.
The final runs were scored in the fifth as Morgan drove home the first run with and RBI fielder’s choice. Sophomore Kaitlyn Eckleberry followed with a pinch-hit, two-run single to solidify the shutout 7-0.
Junior Olivia Gumbita toed the rubber for her 30th complete game, setting down 10 straight hitters before giving up a hit in the seventh. She struck out eight and did not walk a batter.
Against Glenville State the Knights vaulted to a 12-0 lead in the first two innings and never were threatened.
In the first, Gannon scored seven runs on three hits, accompanied by three walks and one error. Big hits were delivered by sophomore Nathaly Pacheco with a two-run double and a RBI single by Bates.
They scored the next five on three hits in the second inning. Bates had an RBI double, Pancheco knocked in a run on a single and senior Alexa Archambeault had a bases-loaded walk. The other runs were scored on a passed ball and a fielder’s choice.
Glenville got on the board with a pair of runs in the third. Gannon scored its last run of the night after Bower scored on an error made after Eckleberry’s infield single.
Despite the five-inning win against Glenville, earlier in the day the Knights lost to Concord University, 5-1.
They also lost to Wheeling Jesuit University Friday, 5-2, and concluded the weekend with a 3-1 loss Sunday to a LeMoyne College, an NCAA Division I school.
So far on the season, Bates leads the Knights with a .361 batting average to go with two home runs and nine RBIs. Morgan leads the club in RBIs with 11 and Jen Moran has a team-high 10 runs scored.
Gumbita leads the mound staff in victories with six, and she’s compiled a 1.72 ERA while yielding 50 hits and striking out 48 in 57 innings of work.
BRANDON JACES
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