SUMMARY
The University of Maryland Eastern Shore softball team defeated Lincoln (Pa.) in Wednesday's midweek doubleheader, winning 4–3 in Game 1 and 7–4 in Game 2.

In Game 1, Jada Lacey led the Hawks with two hits and two RBIs. Paris Richards pitched a complete game, her fourth of the season, and struck out three batters.

Game 2 featured home runs from Clarke Calvin and Ryleigh Lilly. Calvin hit a three-run shot in the second inning and Lilly added a two-run homer in the third inning.
Dani Brown tossed a complete game, her fifth of the season, striking out three to secure the victory.

THE SCORE
Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks (14–30, 5–13 MEAC) — 4
Lincoln (Pa.) Lions (11–24, 6–6 CIAA) — 3

Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks (15–30, 5–13 MEAC) — 7
Lincoln (Pa.) Lions (11–25, 6–6 CIAA) — 4

HOW IT HAPPENED
GAME ONE
UMES scored two runs in the first inning off back-to-back doubles. Kinsey Mentzer singled and stole second. With one out, Jada Lacey doubled to left field and scored Mentzer for the first run of the game. Skylar Skinner batted behind Lacey and hit a double of her own to score Lacey and give the Hawks an early 2–0 lead.

Paris Richards pitched a shutout, allowing five hits and striking out one through four innings.

UMES added two more runs in the fifth inning to extend its lead to 4–0. Clarke Calvin led off with a double and Amaya Nunez reached on a walk. Nunez stole second and Jada Lacey hit a single through the left side to score Calvin and advance Nunez to third. Makalah Clark pinch-ran for Nunez, and a double steal brought Clark home.

Lincoln put pressure on the Hawks in the sixth and seventh innings. The Lions scored one run off an RBI double in the sixth and added two more on a two-run homer in the seventh to cut the Hawks' lead to 4–3. Richards struck out two after the home run to secure her fourth complete game of the season and the Hawks' 14th victory on the year.

Paris Richards pitched a complete game with three strikeouts to secure the victory.



GAME TWO
The Hawks opened Game 2 aggressively, driving in four runs in the second inning. A triple steal by UMES plated the first run before Clarke Calvin hit a three-run homer to extend the lead to 4–0.

Lola Meyer reached on a fielder's choice and Ryleigh Lilly singled, advancing Meyer to second. Tyla Dickerson worked a walk. With one out, a triple steal plated Meyer and Calvin's home run drove in Lilly and Dickerson.

Lincoln answered with one run in the bottom of the second on a two-out RBI single.

UMES' aggressive base running continued to trouble the Lions. The Hawks added two runs in the top of the third inning. Jada Lacey reached on a single and stole second before a single by Gabriella Beltran advanced Lacey to third. A double steal plated Lacey and moved Beltran to second to make it 5–1.

Beltran advanced to third on a groundout. With two outs, Ryleigh Lilly hit a two-run homer to extend UMES' lead to 7–1.

Lincoln responded with three runs in the bottom of the third. The Lions used a triple, two singles, a double and a fielder's choice to cut the deficit to 7–4.

After the combined six runs in the third inning, UMES and Lincoln went scoreless for four straight innings. Dani Brown pitched a complete game, allowing seven hits and striking out three to secure the victory and give the Hawks their 15th win of the season.


BY THE NUMBERS
GAME ONE
Paris Richards pitched her fourth complete game, striking out three.
Clarke Calvin and Jada Lacey recorded their second consecutive game with multiple hits. Lacey also extended her streak with multiple RBIs and back-to-back games recording doubles. 
Skylar Skinner improved her hit streak to seven games and recorded an RBI in her third consecutive game.
UMES stole a season high seven seven bases in against Lincoln in the first game of Wednesday's doubleheader. 

GAME TWO
Dani Brown pitched her fifth complete game of the season.
Ryleigh Lilly hit her first home run of the season with a two-run shot in the third inning and recorded her first multi-hit and multi-RBI game of the season.
Clarke Calvin extended her hit streak to five games.

NEXT UP
UMES softball will host Delaware State for its final series of the season starting Saturday, April 25, with senior day celebrations on Sunday, April 26. The series will be streamed on YouTube at UMES Hawks Athletics.