CRESSON, Pa.- The Juniata softball team split on the road at Mt. Aloysius, winning 10-8 in game one and losing game two 12-4 in five innings, Tuesday afternoon.
A Kay Magill two-run double put the Eagles on the board in the top of the second as she scored Caleigh Love and Claire Thomas.
A pair of home runs in the third, a solo shot from Cate Baran, her first career home run, and a two-run blast from Jessie Hunt, the first homer of her career, had the Eagles leading 5-0 through three innings.
Baran came off the mound to start the fourth, and the Mounties exploded for eight runs on nine hits and an Eagle error as Sarah White and Paige Loudenslager ran into trouble. Baran reentered the circle and got Juniata out of the inning.
The Eagles retook the lead in the sixth on Dani Berlin's first career home run, this one a three-run smash that tied the game at 8-8. Alex Douglass followed a Baran double with an RBI single to push JC ahead again.
Love's RBI double in the seventh provided some extra cushion as Ashley Cheung crossed the plate.
Love was 3-4 with two doubles, an RBI, and two runs scored, while Berlin went 1-2 with a home run, three RBI, and a run scored. Baran went 2-4 with a homer, a double, an RBI, and two runs scored. She also went 6.2 innings, allowing four hits, a walk, and striking out eight.
In game two, the Mounties rattled off three runs in the bottom of the first as the Eagles found themselves in an early hole.
Lauren Fisher drove in Magill and Love with a two-run single to bring JC back within one. A two-run blast in the bottom half of the inning put Juniata behind by three.
Love and Magill each belted RBI singles to once again bring the Eagles back within one midway through the third inning.
Mount Aloysius scored four runs in the bottom of the third, two more in the fourth, and the final run they needed in the fifth on a sac fly gave them the 12-4 win.
Emily Eutsey and Love both went 2-3, with Love adding an RBI, a stolen base, and a run scored. Fisher was 1-2 with two RBI, while Magill went 2-2 with an RBI.
The Eagles will host Scranton in Landmark Conference action Saturday at 1:00.
