EDWARDSVILLE, Pa. -- Freshman pitcher Alyssa Welsh tossed a no-hitter Friday as Eastern swept a doubleheader from Wilkes, 12-0 in five innings and 7-1.
Welsh baffled the Colonels’ hitters throughout Game 1, striking out eight batters. Welsh narrowly missed throwing a perfect game; she walked one batter in the first inning and one in the fifth. Eagles' head coach Brittany Stroop said that the key to Welsh's success was keeping the Wilkes' batters on their toes.
"The biggest thing for her was that she mixed up her pitches and moved the ball around in the zone," Stroop said. "She kept them off-balance."
Kristen Waters improved to 4-0, allowing just one run in the second game. She struck out one batter and walked one. Stroop said Waters used her changeup and drop pitch effectively to create ground balls in key situations.
Offensively, the Eagles hammered four home runs over the course of the doubleheader. Karlee Kerchersky, Melinda Kreimer, Kelsey Clever and Emily Houck all went yard.
"Everybody hit the ball hard," Stroop said. "It was nice to see that power come through. The home runs really pumped everyone up."
In the first game, Kasey Williams had four hits and three runs batted in.
The Eagles scored six runs in the second and six more in the third. Kerchersky smashed a home run to lead off the second. Two batters later, Clever clubbed a two-run homer over the fence in left center. The Eagles picked up three more runs in the inning off an RBI infield single by Tomlinson and a two-RBI single by Williams to center field.
Kerchersky led off again in the third with a double and was brought home after Kreimer pummeled a homer to left field. Tomlinson and Williams again brought in three runs with singles and Emily Houck knocked in Tomlinson with an RBI groundout.
Eastern spread out its runs a little more in the second game, picking up three runs in the third, two in the fifth and one in the sixth and seventh.
Emily Houck, who went 0-for-4 in the first game went 3-for-3 in game two with a home run and four RBIs. Houck batted in a run with a sac fly in the third inning, then brought in two more runners with a single to left center in the fifth. Houck then smashed her first home run of the year in the seventh inning over the center field fence.
