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CLERMONT, Fla. – The Post University softball team suffered two late-inning losses in another NTS Spring Game doubleheader on Wednesday, March 4. The Eagles were defeated by University of Mary 2-1 and by Lynn University 7-5. 

Game One- Mary 2, Post 1
This one had the makings of a pitching duel. The Eagles turned to junior Samantha Esque (Springfield, Pa.) to give them a solid outing against the University of Mary and she delivered. Esque gave up just four hits, without allowing a run, and recorded six punch-outs over 4.2 innings of work. Her Marauder counterpart, Dudley Nena (Gresham, Ore.) was just as effective. Nena struck out 11 Eagle batters over seven complete innings, allowing just one run on three hits. 

Both pitchers kept the offense at bay for the first five innings. First-year Aja DeGrauw (Waterbury, Conn.) gave the Eagles life in the sixth when she reached on a walk and stole second. With a runner in scoring position, first-year Emily Schaffer (Hazlet, N.J.) came through in the clutch and delivered a RBI single to right field. 

The Eagles went to the bullpen in the bottom half of the inning and Schaffer made quick work of the Marauders. The Eagles were looking for insurance in the seventh when Kaitlin Iacomini (Pleasant Valley, N.Y.) punched a single to left, but left her stranded.

The Marauders started the seventh with back-to-back singles. Colleen Crutchfield (Oregon, City) roped a RBI double into left field and tied the ballgame 1-1. With runners on second and third, Demaree Rodriguez (Fresno, Calif.) hit a walk-off single up the middle to give her team a 2-1 win. Schaffer was credited with the loss (0-2) and Nena picked up her fourth win of the season (4-2). 

Game Two- Lynn 7, Post 5
The Eagles collected a total of eight hits from seven different players in the second game. Junior Kayla Kresley (Alburtis, Pa.) had herself a two-hit performance with a walk and a run; first-year Sara Selimovski (Watertown, Conn.) recorded two RBIs. Senior Kaitlin Derby (Douglaston, N.Y.) pitched 4.2 innings for Post giving up four runs, two earned, on eight hits. Esque allowed three unearned runs on six hits over 2.1 innings of work and was credited the loss (1-1). 

The Fighting Knights got on the board first with a sacrifice fly in the top of the third. The Eagles answered back in the bottom half of the inning and evened the score 1-1. Kresley allowed one run in the fourth inning, but minimized the damage and worked her way out of trouble. 

Lynn scored twice more in the fifth inning, but Post managed to stay in it pushing a run across in the bottom half when Korie McDonald (Middleboro, Mass.) singled down the right field line to drive in Iacomini. The Eagles scored three runs on four hits in the sixth to claim a one run lead, but the Fighting Knights came storming back with three of their own in the seventh to retake the lead 7-5. The Eagles could not come up with any late inning magic and dropped to 2-6 on the season. 

On Deck: The Eagles conclude the NTS Spring Games on Thursday, March 5 with a doubleheader against Notre Dame College (Ohio) at 1 p.m. and Ashland University at 3 p.m.