NAPLES, Fla.—Trailing 5-1 entering the bottom of the seventh inning against Pitt Bradford in Monday morning's contest, Swarthmore College Softball rallied in their final at-bats to pull off the 6-5 win. The Garnet split Monday's doubleheader, falling to Geneva College in the second game of the day.
GAME ONE: Pitt Bradford 5, Swarthmore 6
Swarthmore scored a run in the top of the first with
Hannah Thompson crossing the plate. Thompson led off with a hit, stole second, took third on a wild pitched and then scored on an RBI-groundout by
Sara Planthaber. The Garnet however were kept off the board for the next five innings while Pitt Bradford posted two runs in the second and three more in the sixth.
Down 5-1, Swarthmore came up big in the bottom of the seventh. Freshman
Kennedy Kings led off by stroking a double down the left field line.
Anna Jensen entered as a pinch hitter and drove a hit into center to plate Kings. Later with runners on the corners, Thompson hit a single to center field to score one. The Garnet added another run with
Marisa Mancini's single to left. With
Marit Vike pinch running on first and Thompson on third, the Garnet went for the double steal. Thompson dashed home and swiped the plate to even the score at 5-5, still with no one out. The Garnet's next two batters reached on errors and with the bases loaded,
Elizabeth Curcio put a ball in play that allowed Vike to come home and score the game-winning run.
Swarthmore recorded nine hits in the win. Thompson and Mancini went 2-for-4 from the top of the lineup. Kings went 2-for-3 in the game.
Mary Olesnavich earned the win in the circle for the Garnet, throwing seven innings, allowing three earned runs while striking out three and walking none.
GAME TWO: Swarthmore 1, Geneva 4
In the second game, Swarthmore struck first, tallying a run on three hits in the fourth. Mancini led off with double and then advanced on an infield single by Planthaber.
Kalli Segel later had a base knock to center field that scored Mancini and nearly scored Planthaber, but she was called out at the plate.
Geneva scored a matching run in the bottom of the frame and then tacked on a run in the fifth and two in the sixth.
Frankie Ponziani struck out three batters while allowing one earned run in the loss.
Swarthmore returns to action on Wednesday at 9 a.m. against Eastern Nazarene College.
