HIRAM, Ohio - April 13, 2023 - Hiram had a lot of reasons to celebrate on Thursday afternoon at Herndon Field, beginning with the Senior Day celebration for Jeskari Rodriguez and ending with a walk-off win in a doubleheader against Penn State Behrend. The Terriers fell short in Game 1 (1-0) and won Game 2 (4-3) to move their overall record to 13-9.
Rodriguez, who is a two-time All-NCAC selection and an All-NCAC Tournament Team honoree, walked the bases with her parents and took pictures with teammates and coaches to celebrate her four seasons with the program. She then followed the ceremony with a dominant performance, retiring 9 of the 10 hitters she faced and allowing 0 hits over 3 scoreless innings.
Hiram erased a 2-run deficit in the second game and eventually won on a triple by Megan Moser and walk-off sacrifice fly by Darian Kanno.
The Terriers would ring the bell following the doubleheader, and now head into the weekend with momentum. They will travel to Denison on Saturday for a conference doubleheader beginning at 12 p.m.
Game 1 Recap
It was a pitching duel in Game 1, with Rodriguez coasting through the opposing lineup and Trinity Meza following suit with 4 quality innings. The duo combined for a pitching line of 7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K.
Kayla Lindberg was strong as well, pitching all 7 innings for the Lions and posting her fourth complete game of the season. Each of the first-four hitters in the Hiram lineup recorded a hit – including Giselle Bahena with career hits No. 201 and 202 – but no runs would come across in the tightly contested affair.
Meza's 4 innings of relief (1 R, 0 ER) marked her longest outing without an earned run this season. Penn State Behrend scored its lone run in the sixth inning.
Game 2 Recap
There was a different style of game in Game 2, with the two teams combining for 16 hits and exchanging the lead on two different occasions. Penn State Behrend grabbed the first lead with 2 runs in the top of the first inning.
Hiram made its move in the third and fourth innings, scoring 3 runs on 4 hits during that span. Danielle Robles delivered a game-tying RBI single before Bahena followed with a go-ahead RBI single to give the Terriers a 3-2 advantage.
Laci Carter had one of the best outings of her career, pitching a career-long 6.1 innings and allowing just 3 runs. The Lions tied the game in the top of the seventh, but Ryan Leto escaped the jam and kept the score at 3-3.
Then came the late-game rally Hiram needed, with Moser tripling down the left-field line and eventually scoring on a sacrifice fly by Kanno. There was an interference call at home plate that led to Moser's game-winning run.
Leto earned her first career victory, while Moser notched her first career triple in a critical spot. Hiram also improved to 7-5 at home this year.
