Coming off a week in which the team went 4-0 and scored 87 runs, the Lancaster Bible softball team looked to keep its winning streak alive, but ran into a solid Franklin & Marshall squad and dropped two games at Charger Field. Lancaster Bible lost game one, 3-2 and almost overcame a six-run deficit in game two, but ultimately fell, 6-5. The losses drop the Chargers to 6-8 this season, while Franklin & Marshall improved to 10-4.

Franklin & Marshall 3, Lancaster Bible 2 (Game 1)
How it Happened: Game one was a great defensive game as both teams played well in the field and were led by their starting pitchers. The Diplomats got on the board first as they got an RBI single from Karly Newcomb in the second inning to take an early 1-0 lead. The score remained the same until the top half of the fifth inning when Megan Ryan singled home Samantha Clemens to give Franklin & Marshall a 2-0 lead. 

The Chargers answered in the bottom half of the fifth inning as sophomore Julia D'Arrigo doubled home Alicia Ort and Richelle Kane which tied the game at 2-2. Franklin & Marshall got one more timely hit in game one as the Diplomats scored in their next at-bat to take a 3-2 lead. With two outs and runners on first and second, Melissa Bollmeyer got a hold of a pitch and singled home Alexa Smedberg who had come on to run for Patricia Crigler after Crigler singled earlier in the inning. 

Lancaster Bible junior Kelsey Collins doubled with one out in the bottom of the sixth, but she was stranded there as the next two hitters recorded outs. D'Arrigo singled and advanced to second on an illegal pitch in the bottom of the seventh, but once again, the Chargers left a runner on base and the Dips collected the 3-2 victory.

Inside the Box Score: D'Arrigo finished 3-for-4 with two runs batted in during game one...Collins was 2-for-3 in the opening game and pitched all seven innings...She scattered eight hits and struck out two and walked two...Courtney Koser, McKayla Smucker and Richelle Kane also had hits for the Chargers in game one.

Franklin & Marshall 6, Lancaster Bible 5 (Game 2)
How it Happened: Franklin & Marshall controlled game two for 6 1/2 innings, but Lancaster Bible never quit and began to chip away at its deficit during the team's final at-bat. Zoie Senn led off the inning with a single and Koser followed with a double which put runners on second and third with no one out. Collins came to the plate and hit a ball that just cleared the left field fence for a three-run home run and the Chargers had cut the Diplomats' lead in half. 

Ali Morton reached on an error following the home run and Samantha Denson singled to move Morton to third. After a strikeout, Morgan Burkholder reached on a fielder's choice and Lancaster Bible had runners on first and second with two outs. Kane singled and loaded the bases and D'Arrigo used an error by the third baseman to keep the inning alive and trim the Chargers' deficit to 6-4. Senn batted next and she singled through the left side, but the ball just wasn't deep enough to send Kane and thus the Chargers still trailed 6-5 with the bases loaded and Koser coming to the plate.

Koser chopped the ball to short, but was thrown out on the play and Franklin & Marshall escaped with a one-run victory.

Inside the Box Score: Each team had seven hits in game two...Lancaster Bible didn't record its first hit until the bottom of the sixth and then exploded for six hits in the bottom half of the seventh inning...Senn had two hits for the Chargers, both of them coming in the seventh inning...Collins was 1-for-3, but the one was her three-run home run...Denson and Alicia Ort also had hits for Lancaster Bible in game two...Julia D'Arrigo went the distance for the Chargers in game two as she scattered seven hits and struck out three...Just three of the six runs D'Arrigo allowed were earned runs.

Extra Bases: Lancaster Bible is now 0-4 all-time against Franklin & Marshall...The Dips won 16-6 and 8-0 two years ago over Lancaster Bible...Franklin & Marshall is now 4-0 this season against North Eastern Athletic Conference teams as the Dips swept a doubleheader from Gallaudet earlier this season.

Up Next: Lancaster Bible returns to action on Tuesday when the Chargers face Summit Univ. in Clarks Summit, Pa. The doubleheader is set to begin at 3 p.m.