FARMVILLE, Virginia — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore softball team fell to St. John's University and Longwood University in their final two games at the Cavalier Clash, hosted by the University of Virginia and Longwood.
The Hawks (2-7) get a brief break from action until Wednesday, March 8 when they travel to play two against Towson University.
Game One: St. John's 10, UMES 2
Jaycee Holt gave the Hawks a quick start in their first contest of the day, sending a 1-0 pitch back up the middle for a leadoff single. Holt swiped second and moved up to third on a single from Nola Mountain before Kelsie Ekstrom slapped a single to score her.
Mountain would come home on a groundout later in the frame, giving the Hawks a 2-0 advantage to open the contest.
A two-out, two-run home run allowed the Red Storm to tie the contest at 2-2, where the score would stay until the bottom of the third. St. John's opened with a leadoff walk in that inning, before a one-out double and another walk loaded the bases.
A two-RBI single, again with two outs, scored the runners from second and third and allowed St. John's to jump in front, 4-2.
The Red Storm added their second two-run homer of the day in the fourth before a four-run fifth inning that triggered the run-rule.
Ekstrom finished with two hits and one RBI, while Ameenah Ballenger drove in the second Hawk run. Holt and Mountain each singled and scored, and Katelyn Smitchko and Kiyaira Hicks added hits as well.
Hannah Mearns (1-4) earned the win, allowing two runs on six hits and striking out four over the full five innings of work.
Ameenah Ballenger (1-3) got the loss, punching out three in four innings but allowing six runs on seven hits. Smitchko entered in the fifth, but could not work out of the jam as St. John's pushed the final four runs across for the win.
Game Two: Longwood 12, UMES 0
Jaycee Holt led off the contest against the Lancers with a single, marking the seventh time already this season she has opened a game by getting on base. The Hawks were unable to build any further momentum in the first, with the next three at-bats resulting in outs.
The Lancers tacked on four in the first, including a three-run home run with two away after a pair of Hawk errors allowed for extra Longwood life on the bases.
With Smitchko getting the start in game two, the pitchers took control of the game over the next three frames. The sides combined to allow just one hit in that span.
In the fourth inning, Mountain earned a lead-off walk and Ekstrom doubled to give UMES runners on second and third with nobody out. Smitchko put the ball in play with one down in the inning, but a throw home beat Mountain to the plate to keep the Hawks off the board. A fly-out ended the opportunity for the Hawks.
Longwood took control of the evening in the bottom of the fourth. A single and walk gave the Lancers first and second before a two-RBI triple scored both runners, immediately followed by another single that scored a third.
UMES made the move to Ballenger in the circle, but Longwood added five more before the inning ended. All told, Longwood collected eight runs on seven hits in the fifth to set the final score.
The Hawks got two hits and committed three errors in the game. Longwood pushed across 12 runs on 11 hits on the evening.
Longwood's Reggie Kanagawa (1-0) earned the win, allowing two hits and one walk over five innings of work.
Smitchko (1-4) was tagged with the loss, allowing five earned runs on seven hits over 3.1 innings. Ballenger finished for UMES, allowing four runs (one earned) and recording the final two outs.
