ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. - The Drew University softball team earned two more dramatic victories over host Elizabethtown College in Landmark Conference action Tuesday afternoon, winning 8-5 in the opener and 4-2 in the nightcap.
With the wins, the Rangers (4-4, 4-4 LC) evened their record while completing a four-game sweep. This past Saturday, Drew defeated the Blue Jays in a pair of extra-inning walk-off victories.
On Tuesday, the Rangers rallied from a 4-0 first-inning deficit in the opener, scoring three runs in the top of the seventh to break a 5-5 tie. Then in the nightcap, Drew trailed 2-1 going into the top of the seventh before plating three runs once again.
Junior
Madi Precht had a big day offensively, finishing 5-for-9 while stealing five bases, including a school-record-tying four in the first game. Sophomore
Bailey Comeau closed out both games in the circle, earning a save in the opener and the win in the nightcap.
Sophomore
Brianna Seals was Drew's starting pitcher in the first game, and after E-town scored four times on five hits in the first inning, she settled in and blanked the Blue Jays over the next five innings. She allowed just a pair of singles during the stretch, retiring 15 of the 17 batters she faced. In the meantime, the Rangers scored five unanswered runs, scoring three in the fourth and two in the sixth to go up 5-4.
Elizabethtown pulled even in the bottom of the sixth on a double and a single to make it a 5-5 game. But the Rangers rallied in the seventh, starting with a leadoff bunt single from senior
Jasmine Vera. Freshman
Carly Smith followed up with an RBI-double to put the Rangers up 6-5 before Precht and sophomore
Julia VanLiew each ripped RBI-singles to pad Drew's lead.
Comeau entered in the seventh and struck out the leadoff batter before yielding a walk. However, she rolled up a pair of ground balls to earn her second career save.
Precht finished 3-for-5 and swiped four bases for the second time in her career, tying the record initially set by Jennifer Mateo versus Muhlenberg in 2013. Van Liew and freshman
Madi Baldwin each finished 3-for-4.
Seals (1-1) earned her second career win in the circle, allowing five runs on nine hits while striking out two without walking a batter.
In the second game, the Rangers struck first, pushing across a run in the top of the second. Meanwhile, junior
Emilee Marshall shut out the Blue Jays over the opening four innings before the hosts rallied with a two-run fifth to go up 2-1.
However, like they did in the first three games of the series, the Rangers came through in the clutch. Perry, Vera, and junior
Ciara Lyons all singled to load the bases before senior
Sophie Sirota tied the game with an RBI-single. Smith then plated the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly before VanLiew drew a bases-loaded walk to set the final score.
Comeau (3-2) pitched the final two innings. Etown threatened in the seventh, bringing the tying run to the plate with just one out, but Comeau ended the game with a pair of infield outs.
Precht, Perry, and Lyons ripped two hits apiece for the Rangers while Marshall scattered five hits, walking three and striking out one.
Drew's home doubleheader scheduled for Thursday versus Scranton was postponed due to impending inclement weather and will now be played on Monday. The Rangers return to action on Saturday, when they visit Scranton in a twinbill starting at 1 p.m.