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WATERBURY, Conn. – The Post University softball team split its Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) doubleheader with Bloomfield College on Wednesday, Apr. 22. The Eagles took care of business in game one, but fell short in the second. Post remains in third place in the CACC standings with a 16-6 conference record, and 22-14 overall.

Game One – Post 9, Bloomfield 2
The Eagles' lone senior Kaitlin Derby (Douglaston, N.Y.) got the start in the circle in game one of the doubleheader on Senior Day at LaMoy Field. Derby tossed 4.2 innings and allowed two runs on four hits. She struck out six on her way to her eight win of the season.

Post jumped on the board early when sophomore Natalie Lennox (Landenberg, Pa.) reached first on a walk and junior Kayla Kresley (Alburtis, Pa.) crushed a triple off the left field fence to drive in the first run of the game. First-year Emily Schaffer (Hazlet, N.J.) dumped a blooper to shallow left field to score Kresley and give her team a 2-0 advantage.

Meanwhile, Derby was dealing, striking out five Bears in the first two innings.

It was Deja-vu in the bottom-half of the third inning for the Eagles when first-year Korie McDonald (Middleboro, Mass.) worked a one-out walk and the designated hitter Nicole Venturini (Scituate, R.I.) hammered an opposite-field triple to right center. McDonald came around from first to score and Post took a 3-0 lead.

The Post batters were patient against Bloomfield's ace Kirsten Wilson (Beaver Falls, Pa.). The Eagles posted two runs in the fourth inning as a result of four consecutive walks.

Wilson contributed to her cause in the top-half of the fifth when the sophomore hit a two-run homerun to right center field. That's all the Bears would get after Schaffer gave relief to Derby. With two on and two outs, Schaffer snared a comeback line drive for the final out of the inning.

The Eagles opened it up in the sixth inning tacking on four more insurance runs. Venturini came up with another big hit when she delivered a two-RBI ground-rule double to left center field. Not to be out done, sophomore Marissa Cammarano (Bedford, Mass.) served an RBI double to score Venturini.

Carrying a 9-2 lead into the top-half of the seventh inning, Schaffer made quick work of Bloomfield in order to secure the victory for Post.

Game Two – Bloomfield 2, Post 1
Junior Samantha Esque (Springfield, Pa.) got the nod in game two for the Eagles. She pitched seven complete innings, allowing two runs (none earned) on six hits while striking out six.

Bloomfield scored one run in the first frame after two Post miscues in the field. The Bears would get another in the third inning on two hits and another Eagle error.

It wasn't until the sixth inning that the Eagles managed their first hit off the Bloomfield starter Stephanie Miller (Temecula, Calif.).

The Eagles looked poised for late-inning heroics in the bottom-half of the seventh inning when sophomore Kathryn Dawson (Newfields, N.H.) and Venturini got on board. With two-outs, Cammarano roped an RBI single to center field to cut the deficit to one run.

Junior Kaitlin Iacomini (Pleasant Valley, N.Y.) was hit by a pitch to load the bases. The next batter, sophomore Kristen Owens (Exton, Pa.), hit the ball hard but right at the Bears shortstop to end the game.

Miller (10-10) was credited the win, and Esque (9-4) was the named the losing pitcher in the contest.

On Deck: The action continues on Friday, Apr. 24 when the Eagles travel to Wilmington, Del. to do battle with regionally ranked and defending CACC champions Wilmington University. First pitch of the doubleheader is scheduled for 12 p.m.