MEADVILLE, Pa. - April 30, 2022 – Hiram College softball won their tenth-straight conference matchup, sweeping their Saturday doubleheader against the Allegheny College Gators at Robertson Softball Field. The Terriers homered their way to a 9-1, game-one victory, before coming back from a 4-3 deficit to top the Gators, 10-6, in extra innings. With the two wins, Hiram moves to 20-12 (12-2 NCAC) on the year, while the Gators drop to 11-20-1 (7-9 NCAC).
 
GAME ONE: HIRAM 9, ALLEGHENY 1
Natalie Mallas led off the top of the first with a single and stole second, and two batters later, Darian Kanno blasted her first collegiate home run over the left-field fence to give the Terriers a 2-0 lead.
 
Meanwhile, in the circle, Kanno continued her stellar performance to date, working a 1-2-3 bottom of the first, and working around a two-out walk in the second.
 
In the top of the third, Hiram got back on the scoreboard, as Leah Valdez drew a leadoff walk, and a batter later, Kylie Perez launched a two-run blast of her own, scoring Valdez to make it a 4-0 Hiram lead.
 
Kanno then worked another perfect frame in the bottom of the third, striking out a pair, while Hiram scratched out another run in the top of the fourth.
 
Abriana Schwartz draw a walk to lead off the fourth, moved to second on Giselle Chavez's sacrifice bunt and took third on Larissa Baeza's groundout before coming around to score on Valdez's RBI single to make it 5-0.
 
The Gators got their first hits of the afternoon in the fourth on a pair of one-out singles by Aleya Belardinelli and Joplin Osgood, but Kanno worked out of the jam with a fielder's choice and foul out to end the threat and strand a pair.
 
Hiram then got right back to it in the top of the fifth, adding another run on Angel Santellan's RBI ground to extend its lead to 6-0.
 
Kanno then settled back down with a 1-2-3 bottom of the fifth and worked around a leadoff single in the bottom of the sixth.
 
In the top of the seventh, Hiram tacked on three more runs, taking advantage of a pair of fielding errors to plate Hunter Whitton, Maricruz Gonzalez and Avery Balurdi to make it a 9-0 Hiram lead.
 
And although the Gators answered with a run on Cameron Long's RBI single in the bottom of the seventh, Kanno struck out the next two batters to prevent any more damage and finish off the 9-1 victory.
 
Kanno (8-4) earned the win, allowing one run on five hits, striking out eight over 7.0 innings pitched.
 
Belardine (5-9) took the loss for Allegheny, allowing nine runs, six earned, on 11 hits.
 
Kanno also led the Terriers at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a home run, run scored and two RBI, while Perez went 2-for-4 with a home run, two runs scored and two RBI.
 
GAME TWO: HIRAM 10, ALLEGHENY 6
With three runs on four hits in the top of the first inning, Hiram once again took the early lead in game two. With two outs and a runner at first, Kanno singled through the left side, putting runners at first and second for Santellan, who laced an RBI single to right to give the Terriers a 1-0 lead.
 
Santellan then stole second and took third on a throwing error, while Kanno scored from third, making it a 2-0 Hiram lead. Up next, Schwartz then made it 3-0 with an RBI double to left, giving the Terriers a 3-0 lead heading into the bottom of the first.
 
Allegheny quickly answered though in the bottom of the frame, with back-to-back doubles from Paige Ziggas and Osgood cutting Hiram's lead to 3-1.
 
Neither team got much going in the second, and after Hiram left a leadoff base runner on in the top of the third, Allegheny took their first lead of the doubleheader in the bottom of the frame.
 
A walk, sacrifice bunt and single put two on with two outs for Sophia Godzak, who hit a three-run homer to right, giving Allegheny a 4-3 lead. The Gators then looked to add more, but Kanno threw Long out at home trying to score on Kaylin Tang's single to keep Allegheny's lead at just one.
 
Both teams then settled down, as Kanno, who relieved Jeskari Rodriguez to start the bottom of the fourth, and Gators' starter Samantha Dzierba combined to pitch six scoreless frames.
 
Down to their final at-bats though, the Terriers got things going in the top of the seventh. Perez laced a one-out double to center, and Giselle Bahena followed with an RBI triple to right, scoring Perez to even the score at 4-4. Kanno then legged out an inside-the-park home run, scoring Bahena to make it a 6-4 Hiram lead heading to the bottom of the seventh.
 
A leadoff double by Ziggas though, and a fielding error brought the game-winning run to the plate for the Gators, but Kanno got a groundout and strikeout to put two outs on the board. However, Long, up next, stroked a two-run single to left, scoring both Ziggas and Osgood to tie the game at 6-6.
 
Allegheny then looked to walk things off, but Kanno struck out Dzierba looking to send things to extra innings.
 
And after Hiram went 1-2-3 in the top of the eighth, the Gators again looked to walk things off, with a leadoff double to center, walk and fielder's choice. However, Hiram's defense came up big, as Osgood lined into a double play, with Baeza throwing a runner out at home to keep the score even at 6-6 and send the game to the ninth.
 
In the top of the ninth, Hiram's offense again got going, with a trio of singles by Perez, Bahena and Kanno loading the bases with nobody out. And after a fielder's choice cut down a run at home, Schwartz broke the 6-6 tie with a bases-clearing, three-run double to right-center, giving the Terriers a 9-6 lead.
 
Hiram wouldn't stop there, as Baeza legged out an infield single, stole second and Chavez then brought another run home with an RBI single to center, making it a 10-6 Hiram lead.
 
And that was all Kanno needed, as she worked around a one-out base runner to finish the job and wrap up the 10-6 victory with a strikeout looking.
 
Kanno (9-4) again earned the win, allowing two unearned runs on five hits, striking out seven over 6.0 innings pitched. Rodriguez, who got the start for the Terriers, allowed four runs on five hits over 3.0 innings pitched.
 
Dzierba (3-8) took the loss for Allegheny, allowing 10 runs on 18 hits over 8.1 innings pitched.
 
Kanno again led the Terriers at the plate, going 4-for-5 with a double, home run, three runs scored and two RBI. Bahena and Perez also each tallied three hits, with Bahena going 3-for-5 with a double, triple two runs scored and RBI, and Perez going 3-for-5 with a double and two runs scored.

Additionally, with hits in both games of the doubleheader, Bahena ran her hit streak to 24 games, the longest in program history since at least 2010.
 
Schwartz led Hiram with four RBI, going 2-for-5 with two doubles and a run scored. In total, Hiram hit eight doubles, a triple and an inside-the-park home run in game two.
 
Hiram next wraps up the regular season on Monday, May 2 with a conference doubleheader against the No. 6-ranked DePauw University Tigers at Myrtis E. Herndon Field, beginning at 1:00 p.m.