NAPLES, Fla.—Swarthmore College Softball moved above .500 on the year with a pair of wins Wednesday morning. The Garnet pitching and defense only around a single run in each game as Swarthmore topped Eastern Nazarene College 3-1 and Clark University 4-1. Pitcher
Emily Bowman mowed down 13 batters in game one and
McKenzie Ward struck out three batters in game two.
GAME ONE: Eastern Nazarene 1, Swarthmore 3
Emily Bowman improved to 2-1 following Wednesday's stellar outing in the circle in which she more than doubled her season total for strikeouts. Bowman fanned seven batters in a row between the second and fourth innings. She held ENC to three hits and walked none.
The Garnet recorded seven hits in the win.
Emilie Morse pounded two extra-base hits, a solo home run in the fourth and a double in the sixth. Her double was part of a two-run sixth inning in which Swarthmore took the lead for good. Tied at 1-1,
Sara Planthaber doubled to center to plate pinch runner
Marit Vike. Morse then drove a double to right field to score Planthaber. Both Planthaber and Morse went 2-for-3 from the dish.
GAME TWO: Swarthmore 4, Clark 1
McKenzie Ward pitched seven solid innings, walking two, striking out three and giving up six hits in the win. The run she conceded ended up being unearned.
The Garnet again recorded seven hits, with Planthaber repeating her 2-for-3 performance at the plate. Freshman
Gabriella Natoli went 2-for-3 from the bottom of the lineup and drove in Swarthmore's first run of the game to tie the score in the fourth. Natoli punched in the run with a single through the left side to score
Kalli Segel. Segel went 1-for-2 with two walks.
A pair of defensive miscues by Clark in the fifth allowed a pair of Swarthmore runs to come home. Swarthmore added the final insurance run in the top of the seventh when a
Kennedy Kings hit a fly out deep enough in right field to score Vike with the sacrifice. Vike had stolen second earlier in the inning, one of Swarthmore's four steals in the game.
Swarthmore is back in action Thursday with an 11 a.m. game against Bridgewater State and a 1 p.m. game with Rivier College to close out the spring break trip.
