Myrtle Beach, S.C. – Erin Curtis '13 lined a base-hit back up the middle to score Rose Pitkin '14 from third as the Swarthmore softball team walked off against the Waldorf Warriors to complete a double-header sweep on Tuesday.  The Garnet dominated Mitchell to the tune of a 7-2 victory in Game 1 before the rematch of Sunday's 2-0 loss to Waldorf in Game 2.  Swarthmore scored single runs in the sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth to exact revenge on their lone loss of the season. 

Game 1:

A wild day featuring a 2:30 rain delay and schedule changes started quickly for Swarthmore as Kate Smayda '13, making her 2013 debut, singled to center to lead off the contest.  One batter later, Nicole Aaron '14 grounded to the right of the pitcher's mound to bring home Smayda for a 1-0 lead.  With two outs, Danielle Seltzer '13 continued her torrid start with a single to center, advanced to second on a wild pitch, and came around to score on a line-drive single to left by Pitkin. 

Fresh off her strong debut on Sunday, Suness Jones '16 was handed the ball to start and she battled through two innings surrendering a pair of un-earned runs in the second.  By then, the Garnet had added a third run of their on a two-out rally begun by Samantha Bennett '13.  Bennett grounded back to the pitcher's mound but the fleet-footed senior reached the base concurrently with the throw, which was to the plate-side of first.  Bennett and the Mitchell first-baseman met in a massive collision with the feisty Bennett on with an infield single.  A stolen bag and a Smayda single brought in the run.

After the second inning, Melissa O'Connor (1-0) entered the circle and she continued her absurd dominance of the Mariners.  Having struck out 18 on Saturday, O'Connor K'd the first eleven batters she faced, and 13 overall in five perfect innings of work, to run her two-game total against Mitchell to 31 in 12 innings. 

Swarthmore opened up the lead with five runs in the fifth.  Aaron and Seltzer reached on singles and Pitkin laced a double to the wall in right-center to plate both.  A wild pitch brought Pitkin to third and Clara Obstfeld '16 executed a perfect squeeze bunt to bring home the runner and reach first herself.  Chelsea Matzko '14, who went 2-2 after entering in the fourth, lined a rope to left center for the final run of the 7-2 victory. 

Game 2: 

As on Sunday, Waldorf opened the scoring in the top of the first inning.  With two outs against Matzko, in the circle for her 2013 debut, three consecutive singles put the Warriors in front 1-0.

In the third, the Garnet finally broke through against their NAIA opponents following a lead-off double by the red-hot Matzko.  Emma Madarasz '15 sacrificed to the catcher but the throw to first rolled away allowing Madarasz to reach and Matzko to come all the way around to score to tie the game.

That brought up the top of the line-up and Smayda, who popped up a bunt attempt to third.  With Madarasz caught off first, Waldorf third-baseman Kalie DePold looked to double her off but launched the throw away down up the line.  That sent right-fielder Amber Brown racing into foul territory in an attempt to knock the ball down, but her slide left her leg stuck to her shin in the foul-territory fence as the ball rolled away into the corner and Madarasz came all the way around to score Swarthmore's second run.

With the score still 2-1, Christen Boas Hayes '16 entered in the fourth for her collegiate pitching debut and the Warriors, helped by two seeing-eye singles and a double, scored three times in the inning to retake the lead.  Boas Hayes settled in and threw a 1-2-3 fifth, including her first collegiate strikeout, and pitched around a pair of singles in the sixth to keep the Garnet close.   

That set the stage for late-game dramatics as Swarthmore clawed back.  In the bottom of the sixth, a lead-off error by the Waldorf shortstop and a sacrifice bunt moved Seltzer into scoring position.  Boas Hayes rocketed a line-drive single into left to move Seltzer 60 feet away, and she came into score on another Matzko single, this off the glove of a diving DePold.  

O'Connor returned for the Garnet and threw a 1-2-3 seventh (picking up another strikeout along the way), and Swarthmore trailed by a single run into the bottom of the last.  Down to their final out, a throwing error by the shortstop allowed Aaron, who may have beaten the throw on her own, to reach, and the senior Seltzer curled a 3-2 pitch into the left-field corner for a game-tying two-out double sending the game into extras.    

The international tie-breaker rule in effect, an opponent finally scored a run off of O'Connor, though it took a two-out looping line-drive that just caromed off the glove of a diving Curtis at second to do so and end O'Connor's perfect-streak at 8 1/3 innings dating back to Saturday. 

The Garnet responded, again with two outs as this time, a throwing error by the pitcher brought in Pitkin from second and dead-locked the game at five.  When O'Connor induced three consecutive infield pop-ups to escape the ninth, the Garnet made her a winner for the second time on Tuesday.  Madarasz began at second for the tie-breaking rule and was sacrificed to third by Smayda.  That brought Curtis to the plate, and her line-drive was clean through into center for the walk-off winner as Swarthmore improved to 3-1. 

The Snowbird Tournament continues on Wednesday as the Garnet will take on Juniata at 9 AM and Albertus Magnus at 11.