WASHINGTON – CUA opened its 2012 Landmark Conference schedule in style on Saturday, sweeping Juniata by scores of 8-0 and 12-3. In game one, Erin McMakin threw a two-hit shutout and drove in three runs, while in the nightcap, Kerri Apicella allowed just a single earned run and Taylor Stockinger finished with four RBI.
CUA jumped out to a 2-0 lead in game one with a pair of runs in the first inning. Stockinger walked to lead things off and her and Megan Rizzi eventually came around on McMakin's single to center.
Tracey Scanlon scored on Nina Curto's double in the third to make it 3-0 and Amy Laughner crossed on Mel Galella's RBI single in the fourth to make it a four-run lead.
The Cardinals then put the game away with a four-run sixth, beginning with Laughner's lead-off double. A wild pitch moved Laughner up to third and Galella's sac fly brought home Laughner.
Later in the inning, McMakin singled home Stockinger and Curto doubled in Scanlon and McMakin to end the game.
McMakin was once again dominant in the circle, striking out eight and walking just two, while allowing no runs. Kelsea Decker suffered the loss after giving up eight runs on nine hits.
In game two, CUA once again jumped out to an early lead with a single run in the first and six more in the second. Scanlon and Curto drew back-to-back walks to get the second inning going and they were bunted over a base by Rose Shaver.
A Juniata error allowed Scanlon to score, and Stockinger's single to center plated two Cardinals. Rizzi then singled home Galella and Stockinger, and McMakin doubled in Rizzi for a 7-0 Cards lead.
Sam Daubman's double in the third brought home Curto to make it 8-0, before Juniata finally got on the board with three runs in the fifth.
CUA closed the game out in the fifth though, pushing four more runs across. Shaver's one out single put runners on first and second and an Eagles error allowed the first CUA run to score.
Danielle Nichols then belted a double to left that brought home Shaver, and Stockinger finished things off with a two-run double, scoring Nichols and Allie Cain.
CUA hits the road for its next pair of games, traveling to Salisbury on Tuesday for a doubleheader. Game one gets underway beginning at 3 p.m.
