Eagles Fall Twice to Cardinals in Season Finale

WASHINGTON, DC.- The Juniata softball team dropped a pair of games at the Catholic University of America, 3-0 and 9-5, Saturday afternoon. 

The pair of losses drops the Eagles to a tie at fourth place with Scranton in the Landmark Conference standings, 6-6, but the Royals hold the tiebreaker, and thus Juniata narrowly misses postseason play. 

In game one, the Eagles were held to a single hit. The Cardinals managed to score two runs in the fourth, scoring on three hits and capitalizing on two Eagle errors. 

In the sixth, an RBI double to left provided Catholic with all the runs they would need to take game one.  

Cate Baran was 1-3 with two stolen bases in the game, while Ashley Cheung drew the lone walk. Baran also pitched 6.0 innings, allowing eight hits, three runs, and striking out four. 

In game two, Catholic again capitalized on some Eagle mistakes, this time staking themselves to a three-run lead in the bottom of the first as they scored three runs on two hits and a pair of JC errors.  

In the third, they struck for three more, first scoring on an RBI single and later a two-run single to right as they doubled their lead. 

In the fourth, they used another Juniata error to plate their seventh run. 

The sixth inning saw Juniata finally find some success on offense. Baran reached on an error, and Alison Superka singled to short. Paige Loudenslager singled to left, and Baran got home on a error by the center fielder. Lauren Fisher's infield single scored Superka, and Abby John's single to right center plated Alex Douglass. Fisher stole home on a double steal, Reagan Goldsmith singled to left as John advanced to third before scoring on a throwing error by the shortstop. Juniata cut the deficit to two, 7-5. 

Catholic responded with two more runs in the bottom half of the inning to double their lead, 9-5, and Juniata couldn't find any runs in the top of the seventh to end the game. 

Juniata finishes the year at 18-14, the sixth-best record in program history.