NAPLES, Fla. – Edgewood College again rebounded from a slow start in a morning loss but bounced back with a shutout win to move to 2-4 in the 2016 Gene Cusic Classic early Sunday. The Eagles, playing at Collier Regional Park, lost to the University of Saint Joseph 5-2 and then beat Alfred State University 4-0 early on in the afternoon.
St. Joseph got on board immediately in the first game of the day with a run off a wild pitch and tacked on three more in the third to take a 4-0 lead. The Eagles made things interesting after stringing together a couple of good at-bats in the fourth.
Jordan Anderson led off the inning with a single. After a Rachel DeJongh groundout that advanced pinch runner Sabrina Luedtke to second, Grace Delleman drew a walk and Karlie Klossner laid down a sacrifice bunt to put runners on second and third.
Alyssa Hickey then singled in Delleman and got caught in a rundown between first and second, allowing Luedtke to cross the plate before the final out of the inning was recorded. The Eagles would notch only one more hit the rest of the way while the Blue Jays put up one more run in the fifth.
Jordan Anderson finished with two of Edgewood College's five hits while Diesch, Hickey and Sydney Cramer also had base knocks. DeJongh was saddled with the loss after allowing four runs—three earned—in 2.1 innings of work.
Shannon Whitmus and Karlie Klossner combined for the team's first shutout victory of the season later on against Alfred State College in the 4-0 win.
The Eagles took advantage of eight walks from Alfred State's pitchers while shortstop Kylie Clark had a pair of hits to pace the offense. Edgewood College got on board in the second after Delleman and Luedtke came home on separate wild pitches.
In the fifth the Eagles tacked on two more, with the first coming on an error by the opposing team's third baseman. DeJongh, who saw time in right field and first base on defense, then hit a long foul ball to left field to score Sabrina Maicke on a sac fly.
Maicke's walk in the nightcap extended her reached base streak to 10 games while Clark recorded her third multi-hit game of the year with a pair of singles.
Klossner relieved Whitmus in the third and picked up her third win of the year after allowing just five hits and one walk over 4.1 innings in the circle. Whitmus threw the first 2.2 innings and struck out three batters.
The Eagles continue the Gene Cusic Classic with a 12 pm (CT) game against Suffolk University and a 2 pm (CT) contest against the College of Wooster on Monday, March 14. Both games are at CenturyLink Sports Complex in Fort Myers, Fla.
