PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland — On the second day of the Eastern Shore Classic, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore softball team struggled in the field as they fell to the Lafayette College Leopards 7-2 and the Saint Peter's University Peacocks 7-3 on Saturday (February 26).
The Hawks had four errors in each game on Saturday. Of the 14 runs combined that were scored on Eastern Shore, only five were earned.
In the first game of the day, the Leopards got a run in the opening inning. Maryland Eastern Shore would get that run right back as sophomore Tatum Kresley scored on an RBI groundout by sophomore Julia Garcia. Lafayette would get one run in each of the third, fourth and fifth innings to lead 4-1.
Eastern Shore got their second run of the game in the sixth inning. Graduate student Nasya Goodman reached on an error to begin the inning. Garcia and sophomore Ah-Nayia Oglesby each hit a single after that to load the bases. Two batters later, freshman Rebecca Miller singled to right field to bring Goodman across home plate. The Leopards responded with three runs in the seventh fueled by two errors from the Hawks.
Kresley went 2-4 with a run scored and a stolen base against LC. Goodman was 1-2 with a run scored along with pitching the final two innings of the game.
In the second game of the day, SPU jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the top of the second inning. Sophomore Ryan Merriwether began a Hawks rally in the bottom of the frame with a one out double to right center. Freshman McKenzie Abiley hit a double after that to bring Merriwether in for the team's first run of the game.
After a walk by sophomore Kelsie Ekstrom, graduate student Kaylyn Sterling singled to right field to score Abiley. Kresley came up after that and hit an RBI infield single to bring Ekstrom across home plate and make the score 5-3. Neither team would score again until the final inning.
The Peacocks scored two unearned runs in the top of the seventh to lead 7-3 entering the last half inning. Eastern Shore was down to their final out with no one on base. Garcia then drew a walk, Oglesby was hit by a pitch and then Merriwether drew a walk to load the bases. However, the Hawks could not capitalize on the late rally and Saint Peter's escaped with the win.
Kresley went 2-4 at the plate for the second straight game and pitched two innings as well. Freshman Kylee Lehman got her first collegiate start against Saint Peter's and tossed five innings with two strikeouts and one walk.
The 2022 Eastern Shore Classic will conclude tomorrow (February 27) for Maryland Eastern Shore as they face the same two teams again. They will face SPU at noon and Lafayette after. The Peacocks and the Leopards will face each other at 9 a.m. at Hawk Field.
