EASTON, Pa. – Lafayette softball wrapped up its first Patriot League series on Monday afternoon, dropping 9-6 and 12-3 decisions at Metzgar Fields.
 
Freshmen Grace Harvey and Paige Sandidge and sophomore Julia Romano all ripped home runs for the Leopards who saw their Sunday twinbill rescheduled due to rain.
 
Game one started off well for the Leopards as freshman pitcher Kailee Sawai retired the Bucknell lineup in order in the top of the first. In the bottom half, Lafayette took the early lead. Natasha Miner worked the lead-off walk and stole second to get into scoring position. Morgan Olynyk's single up the middle scored Miner for the 1-0 advantage.
 
Sawai ran into some trouble in the second. She walked four batters and the Bison banged out four hits to score six runs. Bucknell batted around the order and Taylor Wolfgang had the big hit of the inning, a two-out, two-run double for the 6-1 lead.  
 
The Leopards used the long ball to get back in the game in the bottom of the third. With Erica Brasher and Olynyk aboard, Harvey (2-for-3, 3 RBI) lifted an Olivia Marinelli offering over the wall in right field, cutting the Bucknell lead to 6-4. After a Bucknell pitching change, Sandidge tied it up at 6-6, ripping a 2-0 pitch out of the park.
 
Hannah Cook came into the game in relief of Sawai to start the third inning. Cook held the Bison scoreless for three frames in one of the strongest outings of her career. The Bison finally got to her in the sixth inning for three runs on five hits. All three Bucknell runs came with two outs as the Bison finished the 9-6 final.
 
Cook threw the final five innings of the game, allowing just the three runs in the sixth while scattering five hits with two strikeouts and a walk. Kelly Toomey collected the circle win, holding Lafayette to two runs on two hits with eight strikeouts.
 
Game two was a back-and-forth affair in the early innings before Bucknell pulled away in the fourth. 
 
In the second inning, with Kinzi Van Wyk aboard, Romano connected for her first career home run to hand Lafayette a 2-0 lead.
 
Bucknell tied the game at 2-2 in the third following Taylor Wolfgang's two-out, two-run homer.
 
The Leopards re-took the lead, 3-2, in the bottom half of the inning. With a pair of runners in scoring position, Bison pitcher Hunter Vestal let loose with a wild pitch that allowed Harvey to score.
 
The back-and-forth game continued into the fourth when the visitors seized the momentum. Bucknell batted around the lineup to score five runs on five hits. Nicole Rivait's (3-for-5) one-out double came after an error that had scored the first two runs of the inning. Bucknell led 7-3. Bucknell then scored four more runs on five hits in the sixth inning to end the game 12-3.
 
Lafayette will have this weekend off from game competition, next playing at Colgate on April 10-11.