WORCESTER, Mass. – The Holy Cross softball team dropped a pair of games to Lehigh Friday afternoon by scores of 6-0 and 3-1.

The Crusaders could just not solve the Mountain Hawk pitchers as the only run to cross the plate for Holy Cross on the day was an Erin Bengston solo home run in game two. Bailey Chavez was 3-for-4 with three singles also in game two, while Jessie Nagel had two singles and Jessica Mott had one hit and a pair of walks on the day.

In the circle, Megan Yurchick got the start in game one and went 3.1 innings, giving up three runs, two earned, on four hits and striking out two. Peyton Morehouse came on in relief and went 2.2 innings, also giving up three runs with two earned. Audrey Gusel got her first action of the season to close out the first game and pitched a clean seventh inning without allowing a baserunner.

Kelly Nelson got the start in the second game and went the distance, giving up the three runs on seven hits and two walks with seven strikeouts.

GAME 1: LEHIGH 6, HC 0
Yurchick breezed through the first two innings, just allowing one baserunner through the first two frames. It was the third inning that gave the freshman some trouble. Three singles and a pair of errors would plate three runs for the Mountain Hawks, but Yurchick did get out of the inning with a strikeout with two still on.

Yurchick retired the first batter in the fourth inning, but was then replaced by Morehouse who struck out the first batter she faced and got out of the inning without giving up a run.

Lehigh would add one more in the fifth and two in the sixth to stretch the lead to 6-0. Holy Cross' only baserunners of the game came in the sixth with singles from Mott and Kari Jacobson, and in the seventh after Bengston walked. It wasn't enough to get on the scoreboard as the game ended with the Mountain Hawks up six.

GAME 2: LEHIGH 3, HC 1
All four runs in game two came on home runs. Nelson got through the first two innings without any trouble, but in the third Lehigh's Jaelynn Chesson would homer to left with two out and two on to give the Mountain Hawks the 3-0 lead.

After the third inning, Nelson allowed just two hits for the rest of the game.

Holy Cross left at least one runner on in each of the first five innings, including two in the first and fifth after Chavez and Nagel singled in each frame.

The Crusaders got one back when Bengston hit her first home run of the year to lead off the sixth to make the game 3-1, but Lehigh retired the next six Holy Cross batters to claim its second victory of the day.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:

• The Crusader defense turned two more double plays on the day, bringing its season total to eight. The first of which came in game one on a fly out to Chavez in center when the runner on third tried to tag and score. Chavez threw her out at home.
• The seven Ks on the day push Nelson's strikeout total on the year to 94 through 63 innings of work for a 10.4 K/7 mark.
• Game two was Chavez's first three-hit game of her career.

ON DECK:
The Crusaders' games against Lehigh scheduled for tomorrow, Saturday, April 9, have been postponed in conjunction with the school-wide pause announced by the College Friday afternoon. Due to an uptick in COVID-19 positive tests within the community, all Holy Cross athletics events through Tuesday have been postponed.