• Box Score vs. Mount Olive
• Box Score vs. Northern Kentucky

KISSIMMEE, Fla. (March 9) – For the second time in three days, the California University of Pennsylvania softball split a pair of games at the Rebel Spring Games, winning 9-0 versus Mount Olive (N.C.) before falling 6-5 in 10 innings to Northern Kentucky on Wednesday afternoon.

With the split, the Vulcans move to 9-5 overall with a 4-2 mark at the Rebel Spring Games.

Against Mount Olive (10-14), Cal U scored three runs in the top of the second and fourth innings before adding a single run in the fifth and two runs in the sixth to cruise to a 9-0 victory. In the second, senior third baseman Danielle Easton (Hanover, Pa./South Western) led off with a single before advancing on a sacrifice bunt. Following a single by senior center fielder Merissa Daley (Whitby, Ontario/Sinclair), freshman second baseman Shelby Lia (Whitby, Ontario/Donald A. Wilson) connected on a three-run homer to give the Vulcans a 3-0 lead.

In the fourth inning, Lia once again came to the plate with two runners on base and belted her second three-run homer of the game. Following a double by junior right fielder Alyson Johnson (Waynesburg, Pa./Waynesburg Central), senior first baseman Sarah Spiering (Upper Burrell, Pa./Burrell) hit a two-run homer (third of the year) to put the Vulcans up, 9-0, in the sixth.

For the game, Lia led Cal U finishing 2-for-4 with two homers and six RBI, while Spiering finished with a homer and two RBI. Johnson and Easton each added two-hit performances. Freshman Hope Spancake (Pine Grove, Pa./Pine Grove) picked up the win, improving her record to 5-2 by throwing a complete game, two-hitter with two strikeouts. Sarah Saunders took the loss for the Trojans, giving up nine runs (eight earned) on 11 hits with no strikeouts and three walks in 6.0 innings.

Following the shutout victory against Mount Olive, Cal U suffered a 6-5 loss in 10 innings to Northern Kentucky (6-7) via international tiebreaker. The Norse scored three runs in the top of the seventh to take a 5-4 lead before the Vulcans tied the score in the bottom of the seventh to force extra innings. After a pair of scoreless innings, Northern Kentucky scored the eventual game-winning run in the 10th on a sacrifice fly.

Senior Maria Greco (Pickering, Ontario/Notre Dame Catholic) was saddled with the loss after allowing four runs (three earned) on eight hits in 7.2 innings of relief. Northern Kentucky's April Ehlers earned the victory in relief, yielding one run (unearned) and surrendering just two hits in 4.0 innings of work.

Cal U took an early 1-0 lead in the first with a solo homer by junior shortstop Jillian Russell (London, Ontario/St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic) before expanding its lead in the second with a RBI single by Lia. The Norse evened the score at 2-2 in the third before the Vulcans reclaimed the lead in the fifth with a solo homer by Johnson.

In the bottom of the sixth, Lia collected another RBI single to stretch the lead to 4-2. Northern Kentucky responded with a two-out, three-run rally in the seventh to claim its first lead of the game, 5-4. In the bottom of the inning, Spiering led off with a single before freshman Paige Onuska (Midland, Pa./Beaver) entered as a pinch runner. After a sacrifice bunt moved Onuska into scoring position, freshman catcher Natalie Wideman (Mississauga, Ontario/Streetsville Secondary) lined a single to give the Vulcans' runners on the corners with two outs. Onuska then tied the game on a passed ball before Ehlers recorded a strikeout to end the inning.

Cal U looked to end the game in the eighth after it advanced the runner to third with one out before Ehlers forced the next two batters to hit the ball into the infield. The Norse broke the tie in the 10th when center fielder Mandi McQueen advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a sacrifice fly. The Vulcans advanced a runner to third in the bottom of the inning before Ehlers retired the next two batters.

Lia posted the only multi-hit game for the Vulcans, finishing 2-for-5 with two RBI.

Cal U returns to action tomorrow, Thursday, March 10, when it plays Saginaw Valley (Mich.) and Southwest Minnesota State at the Rebel Spring Games.