EDINBORO, Pa. (April 25, 2015) – The Edinboro softball team celebrated Senior Day today and a sweep of Indiana (Pa.) at home to stay in the hunt for the PSAC Tournament. The Fighting Scots defeated the Crimson Hawks by scores of 4-2 and 6-3 to move to 21-10-1 overall and 13-8-1 in the PSAC West. IUP fell to 14-20 on the year 12-12 in conference. The Scots are now in fourth place in the division, one win ahead of IUP and Slippery Rock (12-14). The top four teams from each division make the PSAC Tournament.

The Fighting Scots honored their lone senior between the two games, outfielder Courtney Korpus. Korpus has played three seasons for the Scots and made her 22^nd career start in the second game.

GAME ONE – Edinboro 4, Indiana (Pa.) 2
 

Edinboro's pitching cruised through the final four innings of the opening victory. Abby Sotter and Taylor Payne split the final four two frames and each allowed one hit and one walk. Sotter improved her record to 2-2 while throwing five innings, allowing three hits, two runs, and striking out three. Payne earned her first save of the season throwing the final two innings and striking out two batters.

The Fighting Scots jumped out to 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning. Haley Struebing led off with a double to left centerfield and scored on the combination of a single by Shelby Proctor and throwing error by IUP's right fielder. Fleckenstein drove in Proctor two batters later with a single. MaryLouise Lindner followed with a single before Kylie Mason walked to load the bases. Laura Crooks brought Fleckenstein home with an RBI infield single. The Fighting Scots left three on base in the frame when Heather Tighe struck out to end the inning.

The Crimson Hawks closed the gap to 3-2 in the top of the third inning when Rachel Francis hit a two-run home run over the right centerfield wall.

Edinboro rebounded with a run in the bottom of the third. Struebing began the inning again for the Scots this time drawing a walk. Proctor scored Struebing once more, this time via a double. This pushed Edinboro's lead to the final score of 4-2 before Sotter and Payne's stellar pitching performances over the final four innings sealed the deal.

Alexa Campbell threw a complete game for Indiana (Pa.). Her record is now 8-10 after allowing eight hits and two walks. She struck out two.

GAME TWO – Edinboro 6, Indiana (Pa.) 3
The Fighting Scots had to overcome an early deficit in the second game. The Crimson Hawks raced out to a 3-0 lead after batting through the entire order in the first inning. The first run came on an RBI single by Stefanie McCoy to score Megan Gould. Following that, Allison Viguers hit a two-run home run to right centerfield. The Crimson Hawks then loaded the bases with the chance to score more but the Scots starting pitcher Kalet Lenart responded by striking out Emily Hoffman looking.

Indiana (Pa.) threatened again in the top of the second inning.  The first three batters each reached base safely. Gould was thrown out at home on a fielder's choice by Vigures for the first out. The Scots then pulled Lenart and put Payne back in the circle. The first batter she faced she forced a sharply hit line out to the second baseman Tighe who then threw out Vigures at first base for the double play.
 

Edinboro failed to put anybody on base until the fourth inning but the wait was well worth it. Mason and Crooks each began the frame with singles. The two advanced to third and second base respectively on a double steal. Struebing stepped to the plate and delivered a home run to tie the game at 3-3. The Fighting Scots threatened with two on again later in the inning but were unable to take the lead.

 The Fighting Scots took the lead in the next inning. After the Crimson Hawks stranded two runners in the top of the fifth inning, Edinboro took a 4-3 lead on a sacrifice fly by Struebing to score Lindner.

The sixth inning provided two more runs for Edinboro. Brooke Callaghan led off with a towering home run to left field. Fleckenstein then reached on a double to right center field. After the sophomore catcher stole third, Lindner brought Fleckenstein around with a sacrifice to centerfield to drive the Edinboro lead to 6-3.

Payne pieced together two one, two, three innings to cap off her victory. In the top of the seventh inning, Payne forced three flyouts to finish the game. Payne is now 6-1 this season after throwing 5.2 innings in the finale. The sophomore allowed only three hits, walked none, and retired four via strikeouts.

Amanda Spindler was credited with the loss for IUP. She fell to 4-9 after throwing 4.1 innings and giving up four runs. The Scots had seven hits and one walk off of Spindler.

Struebing extended her hitting streak to eight games, the longest of her career. The home run was also the 16^th of her career, moving her into sole possession of third place in school history.

NEXT UP – Sunday, April 26 vs. California (Pa.) (DH)
Edinboro now welcomes California (Pa.) tomorrow afternoon. The Vulcans defeated Edinboro 9-0 and 11-2 in the doubleheader back on March 30. Cal has won 23 straight games against the Fighting Scots.