HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- On Wednesday, the Mount Aloysius Softball team opened up the northern portion of their schedule, with a trip to nearby Juniata College. The Mounties (6-6) played a doubleheader against the Eagles (8-10), falling in both ends of the matchup.

In Game One, the Mounties jumped ahead quickly in the first inning, as Kendra Gardner (Mount Union, Pa. / Mount Union) doubled to drive in two runs and Maggie Cypher (Kittanning, Pa., Armstrong) followed her up with a double to score Gardner from second base. Cypher's double gave the Mounties a 3-0 lead.

Juniata responded with three runs of their own in the bottom of the first inning, tying the game at three. After a scoreless second inning, the Eagles blanked the Mounties in the third and added five runs to their total, jumping out to an 8-3 lead.

Mount Aloysius scratched two runs back in the fourth inning, with neither run being produced by an RBI. Unfortunately, Juniata answered in the fifth inning, stretching their lead to 10-5. In the top of the sixth inning, Olivia Zeigler (Kittanning, Pa. / Armstrong) hit a sacrifice fly to drive in a run and Grace Gardini (York, Pa. / York Catholic) had an RBI-single, getting the Mounties back within striking distance, 10-7.

The Eagles dashed the Mounties hopes in the bottom of the sixth, producing a walk-off win by scoring five runs and ending the contest, 15-7.

Game Two was a much tighter contest. In the bottom of the first, Juniata picked up three runs on a three-run homerun, jumping ahead 3-0. While the Mounties scored a run in the second inning, the Eagles traded it for a run in the third frame, putting their lead at 4-1.

Mount Aloysius kept fighting into the seventh inning. With one out, Whitney Cole (McDonald, Pa. / South Fayette) doubled to drive in a run and cut the Eagle lead to 4-2, with runners at second and third. Gardini drove in a run with a groundout, leaving the Mounties down 4-3 with the tying run at third base. Ultimately, they were unable to push the tying run across, falling 4-3.

Five different Mounties had multi-hit games on the day, with Alysha Cutri (Imperial, Pa. / Bishop Canevin), Gardini, and Gardner producing two hits each in Game One. Cole and Katelyn Garber (Midlothian, Va. / Manchester) each had two hits in Game Two.

The Mounties will take the weekend off, before opening up their home schedule on April 4 against Franciscan. The Barons (1-13) will play three days in a row, next week, and finish the stretch with the Mounties.