COLUMBUS, Ohio– Gannon's offense struggled to find consistency on Saturday, falling in a doubleheader sweep to Ohio Dominican. The defeats are the first true road losses of the season for the Golden Knights. GU drops to 9-7 on the season, and will prepare for their home opener against Edinboro this upcoming Tuesday. First pitch of both games are set for 2:00 & 4:00 pm. 

GAME 1
GU had an opportunity to score right away. Emma Smerick (Ford City, Pa./Armstrong) tripled to start the game and was a base away with nobody out. But when Natalia Mallozzi grounded a ball to short, Smerick took off for home and was thrown out at the dish. Jenna Clontz (Kittanning, Pa./Armstrong) advanced to second in the frame, but was stranded to end the first. 

Maggie Lenda (East Aurora, N.Y./Iroquois) got the start in game one for GU, as was tremendous through the first four innings. After a three up, three down first frame, the senior stranded two ODU runners on first and second when she induced a groundout to end the frame. Another 1-2-3 inning followed in the third. 

Things stayed scoreless until the bottom of the fifth. Having only allowed three hits to that point, Lenda allowed a leadoff single and eventually faced a two on, two out situation. The righty yielded an infield RBI single, and Ohio Dominican took a 1-0 lead after five. Still, Lenda had herself a strong outing, tossing all six frames, allowing the one run while striking out four and scattering six hits.

After going down in order in the sixth, GU mounted a rally in the top of the seventh. Lindsay Breuer started things off with a one single to right, and Bella Atherton immediately advanced her to third with a double. But with the go ahead run in scoring position, the next two batter struck out, keeping GU off the scoreboard in a 1-0 defeat. 

GU was held to three hits in the contest, striking out seven times while leaving five on base. Lenda dropped to 2-4 on the season, but only allowed the onr run in a quality start. 

GAME 2
Similar to game one, the Golden Knights had runners in scoring position to start the game. After Mallozzi was hit by a pitch, Clontz singled to left to put runners on first and second. A strikeout from Atherton, however, ended the scoring opportunity. 

Taking a 6-0 record into the second game, Katie Armstrong took to the circle and worked a scoreless first, but surrendered an unearned run in the second when a runner came home following an error in left field. ODU would add another run on an RBI single to take a 2-0 lead heading into the third. 

GU would leave two more on base in the third, paving the way for Ohio Dominican to pad their lead. Another error, this time at third, allowed the second unearned run of the game, and a third error at shortstop made it 4-0. Later in the frame, when Atherton cut down a runner trying to steal second later in the frame, the fifth tally came home from third, extending the Gannon deficit to 5-0. 

More fielding mishaps plagued GU in the fourth. A fourth Gannon error in the game plated two more unearned runs, which was followed by an RBI double. 8-0 was the score after four frames, and the game ended in the top of the fifth when the Golden Knights failed to push any runs home.