LANGHORNE, P.A. - The College of Saint Elizabeth's softball team (6-6, 0-0 NEAC) earned a split against Cairn University, falling in extra innings in game one, 4-3 before downing the Highlanders in game two, 7-1.
In game one, after falling behind 1-0 in the second inning,
Genesis Sanchez and
Brittany Demarest drove in runs to put the Eagles on top, 2-1 in the top of the third inning. Â In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Highlanders fought back with two runs to regain a 3-2 advantage.
Trailing 3-2 in the fifth, Demarest lined a RBI single, scoring Sanchez to tie the game at three.  Following two shutdown innings by both teams, the Eagles found itself in its first extra inning game of the season.  In the top of the eight, the Eagles put runners on second and third with no outs, but were unable to put across the go ahead run.  In the bottom half of the inning, Cairn used a RBI groundout with one out to score the game winning run, taking the game, 4-3.
Demarest finished the game with two hits and two RBI's while
Alyssa Hampton added two hits. Â
Marielis Alicea threw 4.1 innings in relief, giving up no earned runs while striking out five.Â
The Eagles offense got going early in game two, using RBI's by Demarest and
Elizabeth Unger to take an early 2-0 lead. Â Following a scoreless second inning, the Eagles blew the game opened in the top of the third, scoring four runs with the bases loaded without getting a hit to take a 6-0 lead.
The Highlanders scored a run in the bottom of the fifth, but Alicea added a RBI single in the top of the fifth to give the Eagles a 7-1 lead. Â Hampton shut the door in the bottom of the fifth, and the game was called due to darkness, giving the Eagles the victory.
On the mound, Hampton earned her third victory of the season, pitching five innings, giving up just one earned run while striking out three.  Demarest added two more hits in game two while reaching base safely in all three plate appearances.  Â
CSE returns to action for its conference opener on Wednesday when it hosts Penn State Abington at 3 pm.