WASHINGTON, D.C. – It has been over a decade since the Gallaudet University softball program won three conference games. A new conference and 11 years later the Bison picked up their third North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) win with a doubleheader sweep of visiting College of St. Elizabeth on a beautiful Friday afternoon. Gallaudet (6-18, 3-9 NEAC South) won both games by scoring 16 runs in each game as the Bison won 16-8 in six innings in the first game followed by a 16-1 win in five.

GU starting pitcher Alicia Johnson (San Jose, Calif.) had an absolutely dominating afternoon as she tallied a career-high 13 strikeouts and allowed just two hits in the first game. The sophomore right-hander returned to the circle in the second game and struck out six more Eagle batters as St. Elizabeth (0-14, 0-14 NEAC) scored one run on two hits. Johnson (4-6) helped her own cause at the plate as she went 1-for-3 with a double and two RBI during the first game, and 3-for-4, two runs, two doubles and two RBI in the second.

The visiting Eagles took a brief 6-4 lead in the first game after one inning and a half. Gallaudet battled back to tie the game at six in the third inning. The Bison offense took off in the fourth inning as they scored three runs and added three additional runs in the fifth and ended the game in the sixth, by reaching the mercy rule, with four runs.

Gallaudet had 18 hits in six innings as every Bison batter had at least one hit and 8-out-9 Bison scored a run and drove collected a RBI. Freshman outfielder Rachel Sweigart (Big Rock, Ill.) led the team with four hits and three runs scored. Senior outfielder Alicia Balzer (Montgomery Village, Md.) led the team with five RBI as she went 2-for-4 at the plate and scored twice. The Bison had five doubles in the win.

The Eagles scored eight runs off two hits as they took advantage of the nine walks issued by Johnson to go with six wild pitches and two hit batters. 

In the second game, Gallaudet rode its momentum as the Bison once again scored 16 runs off 18 hits. This game mirrored the first as every Bison had one hit and 8-out-9 batters scored a run and notched a RBI. GU's top of the order, No. 1-6 batters, went a combined 13-for-22 (.590), scored 12 of the 16 runs, drove in 14 of the 16 and accounted for five of the six doubles by the Buff and Blue.

Junior catcher Casey McCullough (Oceanside, Calif.) was a perfect 3-for-3 as she scored three times and collected two RBI. Sophomore Nicole O'Malley (Fredericksburg, Va.) and junior Jessica Buckwalter (Palmyra, Mo.) tied with a team best three RBI. Sophomore Michelin Barron (Frederick, Md.) had a nice game from the No. 9 slot where she went 3-for-4, three runs and one RBI. The home doubleheader also marked the debut of freshman Kiara Suarez (Perth Amboy, N.J.), who recently joined the team, as she scored a run in each game and collected two hits and two RBI. Sophomore third baseman Leeza Cantu (Selma, Calif.) had a nice day as well as she went a combined 3-for-8, scored three runs and drove in three runs.

Gallaudet matched its season-high of 16 runs for a third time this season and the same with its 18 hits. The one run allowed in the second game is a season low. The doubleheader sweep is the first for Gallaudet coach Joseph Kolcun, in his first season at the helm.

The Bison last had three conference wins in 2000 where Gallaudet went 3-5 in conference play in the Capital Athletic Conference (CAC). GU joined the NEAC this past summer after spending 20 years in the CAC as a founding member.

This doubleheader with St. Elizabeth was originally scheduled for Saturday, April 16, but was moved up one day due to the impending rainstorm set to hit the District of Columbia tomorrow.

The Bison will next host Penn St.-Abington in a conference doubleheader on Sunday, April 17, with the first game set to start at 1 p.m.