(Posted April 5, 2009)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- Juniata College sophomore second baseman Caley McCool (Spring Mills, Pa./Penns Valley) belted her first career home run, a three-run shot in the third inning, to lead the Eagles to an 8-2 win over the University of Scranton, in the first game of a Landmark Conference softball doubleheader on Sunday afternoon on Weis Field.

Juniata (15-7, 4-2 Landmark) completed the sweep in the twinbill with a 9-5 victory in game two.

McCool's round-tripper keyed a five-run uprising for the Eagles in the third inning, after Stacy Nagy (Millerton, Pa./Troy) and Rachel Nagy (Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth) tagged Scranton starter Isabel Mendez with RBI singles.

The Eagles added three more runs in the fourth on Sarah Eckard's (Hollidaysburg, Pa./Hollidaysburg) double to left center, plating Melissa Moffat (Oceanside, Calif./Oceanside) who reached on a leadoff double. Eckard scored on Tara Carl's (Duke Center, Pa./Otto-Eldred) infield single, and Rachel Nagy's double down the left field line allowed Carl to cross the plate.

Scranton scored single runs in the fifth and sixth innings, but the Lady Royals were able to muster just four hits off Juniata starter Alyssa Erb (Hollidaysburg, Pa./Hollidaysburg). Erb fanned 12 Scranton batters, improving her record to 9-5.

In game two, Juniata had to survive several Scranton rally efforts, and needed three-run efforts in the first, fourth and fifth innings to post the win.

After Juniata grabbed a lead with three runs in the first innings on three hits, three wild pitches, and a error, Scranton cut the lead to 3-2 with single runs in the third and fourth. A Christine McGarry single plated the Lady Royals' Mia Collarini in the third, while Sarah Capodice scored Samantha Russo in the fourth.

The Eagles tacked on three more runs in the fourth, thanks to RBI singles by Carl, Rachel Nagy, and Liz Schmitt (Knoxville, Tenn./H. Frank Carey, N.Y.). A three-run Juniata fifth was keyed by Carl's two-run single into right field, scoring Kelsey Shutt (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) and pinch runner Lindsay Darchicourt (Boiling Springs, Pa./Boiling Springs). Darchicourt was running for catcher Jackie Morley (North Wales, Pa./Archbishop Wood), who reached on a base hit to open the frame.

Scranton scored three runs on five runs in the top of the sixth, including a pair of runs on single to right center by McGarry. However the Lady Royals' Ashley Vosilla popped up to third base for the final out of the sixth, leaving two runners stranded.

Erb, who came on in the fifth inning for Juniata starter Pam Heinrichs (Spring Mills, Pa./Penns Valley), struck out two of the four Scranton batters she faced in the seventh inning, to preserve the Juniata win.

Heinrichs scattered four hits while allowing two earned runs with one strikeout, earning the win to improve to 5-1. Erb finished out the final three innings of the contest, earning her first save of the season.

Juniata will travel to Elizabethtown College on Wednesday, April 8, to face the Blue Jays in a doubleheader starting at 3:00 p.m.

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Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.