EASTON, Pa. – Lafayette softball notched its first Patriot League victory of the season, beating Army 4-3 in the second game of a Saturday doubleheader at Metzgar Fields.
 
Hannah Lee and Brooke Wensel (3-for-4) both came through with RBI-singles in the fourth inning, two of the Leopards' nine hits in the nightcap. Freshman starting pitcher Kinzi Van Wyk battled the entire game, garnering the win after allowing three runs on seven hits over seven innings.
 
Both teams scored runs in the first. Army (14-19, 3-2) loaded the bases and plated two on a Bianca Gonzalez single and a Katie Ontiveros RBI-groundout. In the bottom of the inning, the Leopards loaded the bases and Erin Scott's ground ball up the middle scored a run.
 
Lafayette knotted the game at 2-2 in the third inning. The Leopards hit two balls to the wall in left field, and the second lengthy base hit by Maddie Wensel scored Brooke Wensel who started the inning with a single the other way.
 
Lafayette took its first lead of the afternoon in the fourth inning and manufactured its first run. Addison Goldwait doubled in the gap and Ellen McDonnell followed with a sac bunt to move Goldwait 60 feet closer. Lee, who pinch hit, delivered a single the opposite way as Lafayette claimed a 3-2 advantage.  
 
Natasha Miner kept the inning going by legging out an infield single, and then Brooke Wensel came through with an RBI-single to left. Lafayette led 4-2.
 
Army cut the Leopard lead to 4-3 with a run in the top of the fifth on Ally Snelling's double.
 
That was as close as Army would get for the final two innings. Van Wyk retired the Black Knights in succession in the sixth and allowed just one hit in the seventh to close out the win.
 
In game one, Army starter Julie Duong kept the Leopards' offense from stringing together hits and held them scoreless until the sixth in a 3-1 final.
 
Army led for the majority, scoring on a first-and-third steal in the second inning and on Ashley Yoo's infield RBI-single in the second. In the sixth, Snelling's solo home run pushed Army to a 3-0 lead.
 
The Leopards' offense broke through in the bottom of the sixth. Lafayette loaded the bases following one-out singles by Paige Grover and Miner and Brooke Wensel taking Duong's first pitch off the arm. Scott plated Grover, ripping a ball off Duong's glove before Duong retired the next two batters to end the rally.  
 
Malori Pojar led off the bottom of the seventh with a single, but that was the end of the offense for the Leopards in the 3-1 final.
 
Duong (7-8) struck out seven and walked one in the circle win. Leopard starter Stacy Gordon allowed three runs (one earned) on eight hits while striking out three.
 
Lafayette (3-21-1, 1-4) and Army finish off the series on Sunday at noon.