The Lancer softball team clinched a playoff spot over the weekend with a sweep of the Guelph Gryphons and Waterloo Warriors, going 4-0 before the Thanksgiving break. Game scores against the Gryphons were 12-5 and 9-4, while scores against the Warriors were 8-6 and 13-3. 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED FRIDAY 
The weather changed over the past few days, forcing the Lancers to play their 7&9pm night games in frigid temperatures with rain and wind. Despite the cold conditions, the Lancers came out hot. After giving up two runs in the 1st inning, the Lancers responded with five runs of their own in the bottom of the 2nd inning on a single from Morgan Maxey, a Megan Lozinski double, singles from Aubrey Johnson, Lauren Hickey, and Ella Duncan-Reda, and some fielder's choice plays to cash their runners.
 
The Gryphons added another run in the 3rd inning, but the blue & gold once again responded with their own to cash three more runs with singles from Morgan Maxey, Emma Hanley, and Aubrey Johnson. In the 4th, the Lancers kept piling on the runs with singles from Ella Duncan-Reda and McKay Colombe, a double from Megan Lozinski, and a 3-run homerun from Emma Hanley.
 
The Gryphons responded in the 5th inning with two more runs, but it wasn't enough to stop the mercy rule from coming into play as the Lancers took the game 12-5. Megan Lozinski earned the win from the mound, giving up four earned runs and striking out six batters over five innings of work.  

The Lancers kept their momentum going in the 2nd game of the doubleheader with Jacqueline Pento and Emma Hanley scoring on wild pitches over the first couple of innings. The Gryphons responded with three runs in the 3rd inning, but Emma Hanley once again hit the ball over the right field fence for a solo homerun to tie the game at three in the 4th inning.  
Guelph squeaked another run past the Lancer defence to gain the lead and keep it until the last inning. In the top of the 7th, Aubrey Johnson reached base on an error and Lauren Hickey laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Johnson to scoring position. With 2 outs and the game on the line, Megan Lozinski hit a clutch single up the right field line to score the run and tie the game to keep it going.
 
Not wanting to go into extra innings, the Lancers kept the 2-out rally going with hits from Soleen DePape, Emma Hanley, and a bases-clearing double from McKay Colombe. This added to the Lancer lead and put them ahead by five runs. The blue & gold shut down the Gryphon offence in the bottom of the 7th to take the win. Morgan Maxey started the game on the mound, giving up three earned runs, five hits, and striking out two batters over four innings with Megan Lozinski coming in in relief to earn the win over three innings with four strikeouts, one hit, and no runs.  

HOW IT HAPPENED SATURDAYWith their playoff spot already clinched, the Lancers were still fighting for their placement in the division during Saturday's games against the Waterloo Warriors. The blue & gold struck early in the bottom of the first inning to put them up by four runs on singles from Ella Duncan-Reda, Morgan Maxey, a couple of walks, and a bases-clearing double from Aubrey Johnson.
 
The Lancers added to their lead in the 2nd inning with a single from Tia Bellaire, a double from Ella Duncan-Reda, and a sacrifice fly from McKay Colombe to cash three more runs and put them up by seven. The Warriors were not a team to give up and responded with six runs of their own in the 4th inning to reduce the Lancer lead to one. The blue & gold added an insurance run in the bottom of the 6th with Soleen DePape reaching on an error, Ella Duncan-Reda putting down a sacrifice bunt to move DePape into scoring position, and McKay Colombe hitting a double to cash the run. The Lancers held the Warriors in the final frame to secure their third win of the weekend. From the mound, Aubrey Johnson earned the win, giving up five earned runs and seven hits over 3.1 innings. Megan Lozinski earned the save with zero earned runs and three hits over 3.2 innings.

After a quick 1-2-3 first inning for both sides in the second game of the double header, the Lancers came alive in the top of the 2nd inning scoring 11 runs against the Warriors. Highlights of the inning include two singles from Aubrey Johnson, a single and a double from Jacqueline Pento, and a single from Rylie Straus. The top of the 3rd inning allowed the Lancers to build on their lead as they cashed two more runs on a single from Ella Duncan-Reda and a few walks and fielder's choice plays. The Warriors did not give up and responded with 3 runs of their own in the bottom of the 4th inning, but it wasn't enough to continue the game as it ended in a mercy situation with a final score of 13-3. Megan Lozinski earned the win from the mound, giving up five hits and three runs over four innings.  
UP NEXT
Up next, the Lancers will play a makeup series against the Brock Badgers next Sunday, October 15th to determine final seeding going into their playoff tournament as both teams have already qualified. Games will be at 11am and 1pm at Mic Mac Park Diamond #2.