COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. - Swarthmore College Softball defeated Centennial Conference opponent Ursinus College 13-11 on Tuesday. The Garnet (15-8, 3-2) have won a season-high five straight games.
Originally scheduled to be a doubleheader, the Garnet had a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning in Game 2 before it was postponed due to darkness. The teams picked up on April 28, and Swarthmore lost 4-3. The game determined that the Garnet will be the No. 4 seed in the Centennial Conference Tournament.
Game One: Swarthmore 13, Ursinus 11
Swarthmore and Ursinus (12-11, 3-4) both had 14 hits in this offensive battle. The Garnet never trailed in the game but allowed the Bears to tie it up in the first, second and sixth innings after taking a lead.
Both teams scored two runs in the first and three runs in the second. Junior
Gabriella Natoli stayed hot with an RBI single for the game's first run.
Garnet sophomore
Mika Maenaga provided one of the biggest blows of the game with a two-RBI triple in the second inning.
Swarthmore took a commanding 10-5 lead in the third that included RBI doubles from sophomore
Victoria Overbeck and senior
Elizabeth Curcio.
Senior
Marit Vike also recorded an RBI on a single in the third inning. She went 4-for-4 with a double, a walk, four stolen bases and four runs scored in the victory.
The Garnet let their lead slip away in fifth and sixth innings, and Ursinus tied the game at 11. However, Curcio scored on an error and Vike scored on a wild pitch in the top of the seventh.
Sophomore
Maddie Bowe continued her streak of success by closing the door in the seventh inning for her first-career save. She also threw four innings in the second game and allowed just one earned run. Bowe has now allowed just three earned runs over 22.1 innings pitched in her last six appearances.
Freshman second baseman
Laura Hirai joined VIke, Maenaga and Curcio on the list of Garnet players with at least two hits in the game. Hirai went 2-for-3 with two runs scored.
Game Two: Ursinus 4, Swarthmore 3
Swarthmore struck early with two runs in the first on a Natoli single and a sacrifice fly from freshman
Gwen Glatz.
Glatz hit an RBI double in the third that put her team up 3-0.
The Bears got their first run off sophomore starting pitcher
Maddie Bowe in the bottom of the third. Bowe pitched all six innings for Swarthmore and also hit a double in the contest.
Ursinus scored the final three runs of the game in the bottom of the fifth to secure the No. 3 seed in the playoffs.
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