WILMINGTON, N.C. – Lafayette dropped a pair of decisions on Friday afternoon on the opening day of the UNC-Wilmington Home Weekend #2. Senior Dani Rosner had three hits to pace the Leopards who saw an early 2-0 lead melt away against Georgetown in a 3-2 final and a four-run third inning decide things in the 5-2 nightcap vs. Iona.
The Maroon and White led 2-0 through four innings of game one. The Leopards took a 1-0 advantage in the second inning, manufacturing a run using a Regan Dillon walk, Ava Butler sacrifice bunt and a Maggie Klug single.
Lafayette doubled its margin in the fourth. Butler led off the inning and later scored on one of four Georgetown errors on the afternoon.
Leopard senior starter Marissa Powell cruised until the fifth inning, allowing just one hit over the first four frames. The Hoyas broke through for a run in the fifth, as Devyn Johnson plated Emily Strittmatter with an infield single to make it 2-1.
Georgetown took its first lead in the bottom of the sixth. Powell retired the first two batters, but back-to-back singles followed and prompted a pitching change.
Jordan Goedel came on in relief and walked the next batter to load the bases. Strittmatter delivered a two-run single that gave the Hoyas a 3-2 lead.
The Leopards had their opportunities in the top of the seventh. Caroline Hall and Rosner each singled to open the inning. Then, Kylee Sweet reached on an error to load the bases with no outs. Hoyas' starter Marina Egbert buckled down and struck out Katie Harrington and Dillon before getting a ground ball from Butler to end the game.
Egbert collected the win, allowing one earned run on six hits over seven innings. Powell, who was responsible for three runs on five hits over 5.2 innings, was tagged with the loss. The Leopards offense left 10 runners on base.
In the second game, Iona used a four-run second inning to hold on for a 5-2 final.
The Gaels' Rachael Morales and Hailey Guerrero below connected for two-run singles in the third inning to take the early lead.
The Leopards immediately sliced the deficit in half. Rosner (double) and Sweet (sacrifice fly) both drove in baserunners to trail 4-2. Iona then expanded the lead to 5-2 via an RBI-double in the sixth.
Iona pitcher Isabella DiGiandomenico limited Lafayette to just one hit over the final three innings to finish off the win. Sophia Alvarez-Backus made her second start of the season, allowing four earned runs on eight hits over seven innings.
Lafayette will play two more on Saturday, facing Georgetown at 12:30 p.m. before hosting UNC-Wilmington at 5:30 p.m.
