FORT MYERS, Fla.—Swarthmore College Softball opened its spring break schedule out right, scoring a combined 19 runs in wins over Rockford University and Elms College on Sunday.
The Garnet (3-1) took advantage of bases-loaded situations in both games to pull away to a 10-3 win over Rockford and a 9-2 win over Elms. Pitcher
Emily Bowman clobbered an inside-the-park grand slam against Rockford, and
Frankie Ponziani cleared the bags with a triple against Elms.
GAME ONE: Rockford 3, Swarthmore 10
Trailing 3-1 going into the bottom of the fifth, Swarthmore exploded for six runs in the fifth.
Marit Vike led off with a bunt single and then swiped second standing up. A single by
Fran Reckers sent her to third and she went on to score on throwing error by the Rockford catcher.
Anna Jensen singled up the middle to knock in Reckers and tie the game at 3-3. Base-knocks by
Elizabeth Curcio and
Frankie Ponziani loaded the bags for Bowman.
Bowman worked a full count and drove the pitch over the right fielder's head. Bowman motored around the base path to complete the rare inside-the-park grand slam.
Another Vike lead-off bunt single in the sixth led to another scoring inning. Vike stole second again and advanced to third on a groundout. The Rockford shortstop tried to throw out Vike at home on a groundball by
Sara Planthaber, but Vike sped home and beat the throw.
Bekah Katz singled, and then Jensen smacked a double to score both Planthaber and Katz.
Bowman pitched a complete game and struck out 11 batters in the win while only walking two.
GAME TWO: Elms 2, Swarthmore 9
Swarthmore fell behind 1-0 in the first inning, but posted two runs in the bottom of the third. Vike led off with another well-placed bunt and then stole second. Curcio, who went 5-for-8 on the day, beat out an infield single and advanced Vike to third. Planthaber swung at the first pitch and knocked a single up the middle to score Vike and even the score at 1-1. A single by
Emily Barranca to center field plated Planthaber and gave Swarthmore the lead.
The Garnet loaded the bases in the fifth and Ponziani cleared them on the first pitch of her at-bat. Ponziani laced a triple to center field to score
Hannah Thompson,
Amanda Lopez and Barranca.
Curcio led off with a single and was followed by a Planthaber double. Katz smashed a single up the middle to knock in Planthaber and Curcio. Katz later scored on an error. The Garnet tallied the final run of the inning with an infield single by Vike that scored Ponziani.
Freshman
McKenzie Ward struck out seven while only walking one en route to her first collegiate win.
Swarthmore plays another pair of games on Tuesday. The Garnet play Drew at 9 and Nazareth at 11 a.m.