COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – A pair of dominant pitching performances and an opportunistic offense catapulted the Ursinus College softball team to a sweep of Eastern in its home opener Friday afternoon.
Senior Devan Cinalli and freshman Jennifer Hammons combined to hold down the Eagles in a 6-1 decision in the opener before junior Kaitlyn Willis spun a complete-game gem in the nightcap, a 2-1 Bears final.
Sophomore Sammi Donato finished 4-for-6 at the plate for Ursinus (7-9), which allowed only eight hits and two unearned runs to the Eagles (2-6).
Game 1: Ursinus 6, Eastern 1
Ursinus scored two runs in the bottom of the second, capitalizing on a two-out error by the Eastern shortstop and another by the first baseman to snag an early advantage.
Cinalli tossed two scoreless innings before giving way to Hammons, who surrendered just three hits and an unearned score over the final five frames. The Bears handed Hammons a big lead with two more runs in the third and fourth. After a walk to sophomore Faith Carson opened the third, Donato singled to center, and sophomore Callie Crouse smacked a two-run triple to left center two batters later.
Freshman Marissa Beebe's first career triple, a liner over the head of the Eagles right fielder, brought home Willis for a 5-0 lead in the fourth, and Donato capped Ursinus' scoring with a run-scoring double to the left-center field gap.
Eastern picked up an unearned run in the fifth, but Hammons (2-4) was otherwise dominant. The rookie walked two and struck out five.
Donato was 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI, with Crouse driving in a pair. LeClerc scored two runs for the Bears, and Beebe had one of her own.
Game 2: Ursinus 2, Eastern 1
Despite the hyper-efficient brilliance of Willis, who needed only 68 pitches to slice through the Eagles' lineup, the Bears required a late rally to steal the second game.
Eastern took a 1-0 lead when Jess Snader's two-out single snuck through Donato's legs and rolled to the right-field wall, allowing Melissa Irick to come around with the first run. Irick, who pitched the final two innings of the opener, kept the Bears in check with four scoreless frames in Game 2.
Eastern brought on Haleigh Williams to start the fifth, and Crouse greeted her with a double down the left-field line. Willis' single through the right side put runners on the corners with one out, and Manto plated Crouse with a base hit to center field. Manto stole second base, and sophomore Kayla Quinn's slow roller to second base was enough to score Willis with the go-ahead marker.
Willis (5-3) needed only four pitches to throw a 1-2-3 sixth and closed the day with a perfect seventh. The right-hander was a machine in the circle, throwing strikes on 54 of her 68 pitches; she struck out two and did not walk a batter, permitting only three hits. Willis even helped herself at the plate, going 2-for-2 and scoring the winning run.
Donato finished with another 2-for-3 afternoon for Ursinus, raising her team-leading average to .440.
Up Next
The Bears have the weekend off before hosting Washington College in their Centennial Conference opener on Tuesday, March 28.
