The Case Western Reserve University softball lost a pair of games to Emory University on Friday afternoon at Mather Park in Cleveland, dropping the first game 8-3 and falling 2-1 in the second contest.
The Spartans fell to 14-9 this season and 2-3 in University Athletic Association contests, while the Eagles improved to 17-9 and 7-1 in the UAA
Stats and Standouts
- Senior infielder Elizabeth Berry hit her first home run of the season in the first contest
- First-year infielder Natalie Ching and junior infielder Karen Potts each had a hit in both contests with Potts stealing a pair of bases
- Senior right-handed pitcher Devanghi Misra (5-3) suffered the loss in the first game, allowing five runs in four and two-third innings with two strikeouts
- First-year pitcher Josephine Alspaw appeared in relief in both games, totaling six and one-third innings in the circle. She allowed three runs on five hits with six strikeouts. In the second game, Alspaw tossed four scoreless one-hit innings with two punchouts
- Sophomore pitcher Laura Meoli started the second contest, allowing two runs (one earned) on just one hit in three innings
Emory 8, CWRU 3 (Game 1)
- The Eagles scored in the first inning on a two-out single and added a run on a double, though CWRU ended the frame cutting off a runner at the plate
- CWRU quickly tied the score in the bottom of the frame on a two-run homer by Berry, her first of the season
- The Spartans added a run without the benefit of a hit in the second inning
- Junior outfielder Alaina Steffes walked, and first-year outfielder Sierra Ejercito replaced her on the basepaths
- Ejercito stole her 17th base of the season and advanced to third and scored on a pair of wild pitches
- Emory tied the score with back-to-back two-out doubles in the fourth frame
- The visitors took a two-run lead in the fifth inning with both runs scoring with two outs
- Emory put the game away with three runs in the seventh inning, making the score 8-3
Emory 2, CWRU 1, (Game 2)
- After two scoreless innings, the Eagles scored twice in the third, taking advantage of a CWRU error in the frame
- The Spartans threatened in the bottom of the frame, putting two runners in scoring position, but the team was unable to score
- Case Western Reserve cut into the deficit in the fourth inning, plating a run on an error to half the deficit
- The following stanza, CWRU put two runners on base with a hit and a hit-by-pitch, but again held off the scoreboard
- The Spartans had the tying run on base and go-ahead run at the plate in both of the last two innings, but the Eagles prevented them from prolonging the contest
Spartan Notes
- CWRU dropped to 20-44 against Emory, which dates to 1999, and 15-13 since the introduction of campus site play in 2017
- Meoli made her first career start in the circle
- Berry slugged the second home run of her career and her team-leading fifth game with multiple RBI this season
- Alspaw has appeared in a team-high 18 games
Up Next
The Spartans and Eagles will wrap up their three-game series on Saturday at 12 p.m.