Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score
BEL AIR, Md.—The Harford softball team evened its record as it swept a doubleheader from Anne Arundel, 8-1 and 8-6 (8 inn.) on Wednesday at Harford Softball Field. The Fighting Owls (11-11, 5-7 MDJUCO) struggled with two errors and gave up a three-run homer as the Pioneers (6-10, 5-7 MDJUCO) tied the score at six in the top of the seventh of game two, before freshman Jess Langrehr (Jarrettsville, Md./North Harford) blasted a two-run walk-off homer to give Harford the 8-6 win in the bottom of the eighth.
Langrehr went 3-for-4 in game two with two runs scored, three RBI and a home run, while sophomore Sarah Cooley (Clermont, Fla./Bel Air) (5-5) earned the win, giving up six runs (three earned) on six hits and striking out 12 batters in eight innings. On the day, freshman Mariah Ripken (Havre de Grace, Md./Havre de Grace/Kutztown) paced Harford, going 6-for-8 with one run, a double, a grand-slam home run and seven RBI. Freshman Natalie Baker (Aberdeen, Md./Aberdeen) (2-4) picked up the game one win by holding the Pioneers to just one run on three hits, while fanning three batters in seven innings.
Amy Baker was 3-for-6 with two runs scored, a home run, three RBI and a walk to lead Anne Arundel, while Rae Molina suffered both losses on the mound, allowing a total of 16 runs (15 earned) on 26 hits, while striking out three over 13.1 innings.
Game one saw the teams tied at one after the first, thanks to Samantha Helms's solo homer for Anne Arundel and Ripken's RBI single for Harford. The Owls didn't take the lead until the third, when freshman Jess Kraft (Jarrettsville, Md./John Carroll) scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch and sophomore Sarah Morrill (Smyrna, Tenn./C. Milton Wright) added some insurance on another Pioneer wild pitch.
Baker held the Pioneers to just one hit in the next two innings, before Harford tacked on another run in the bottom of the fifth and put the game out of reach with a four-run sixth inning on the way to the 8-1 victory.
Game two saw the Pioneers take a 2-0 lead in the second, but an RBI single by freshman Cierra Stinson (Nottingham, Md./Mercy) and Ripken's grand slam gave Harford the three-run, 5-2, advantage after three innings.
Both teams added single runs in their respective turns at the plate in the fifth and two Harford errors allowed Baker to notch a three-run homer in the seventh to knot the score at six runs each before Harford stranded two runners in the bottom of the seventh.
Cooley retired the Pioneers in order in the eighth and then started the bottom of the eighth on second base to fulfill the international tie-breaker rule. Freshman Rischelle Griffin (Pylesville, Md./North Harford) put Cooley into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt, but Langrehr rendered the tactic unneeded as she crushed the ball out of the park to give Harford the 8-6 extra-inning win.
The Fighting Owls return to action on Saturday when they begin a three-team, six-game road trip by traveling to Frederick for a 12:00 p.m. doubleheader.
