SWARTHMORE, Pa. – The Swarthmore College softball team shut out No. 14 Gettysburg College, 2-0, in the Centennial Tournament at Clothier Softball Field on Saturday afternoon.
With the victory, the Garnet advance to Sunday's championship round and require just one win to capture their second title in three years. Swarthmore will take on the Bullets again after Gettysburg bounced back to eliminate Ursinus College, 7-4, in Saturday's finale.
The contest saw a pitcher's duel between the Garnet's
Lilly Goldberg and the Bullets' Paige Forry. Neither hurler allowed an earned run and the two sides combined for just eight hits. Swarthmore scored the only runs of the game in the third inning and both were unearned on
Emily Bertrand's single up the middle.
Bertrand finished 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI.
Iris Barone,
Lia Fong, and
Emilee Espinoza all recorded a hit with Barone and
Elisabeth O'Connor each stealing a base. Goldberg conceded just three hits, walking one and striking out six. It was her seventh complete-game shutout of the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Bertrand was the first base-runner for either side when she led off with a double in the bottom of the second. Fong laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Bertrand to third but the Garnet could not bring her home.
- Gettysburg got its first base-runner in the third with a one-out single. An error and an infield single allowed the Bullets to load the bases with just one away. However, Goldberg got out of the jam with a strikeout and a pop-up to keep the contest scoreless.
- In the bottom of the third, O'Connor reached on an error then stole second. Barone smacked an infield single and there were runners on the corners. Barone swiped second before a groundout and a pop-out put Swarthmore at risk of failing to score again. However, Bertrand came through with a two-run single up the middle to give the Garnet a 2-0 lead.
- In the fourth, the Bullets singled with two outs. The next hitter reached on an error and Gettysburg nearly had runners on the corners but
Jordan Jackson came up with an outfield assist, nabbing the runner trying to advance to third to end the inning.
- The Bullets next threatened in the sixth, putting runners on first and second with two outs. Goldberg got a fly out to end the frame. The rookie then retired the side in order in the seventh to seal the victory.
GARNET OFFENSIVE LEADERS
Hits: Bertrand 2
Runs: Barone, O'Connor 1
RBI: Bertrand 2
Stolen Bases: Barone, O'Connor 1
GARNET PITCHING LEADERS
Goldberg: Win, 7.0 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 1 BB, 6 K
UP NEXT
Swarthmore (31-9) battles Gettysburg in the championship round on Sunday beginning at 10 a.m.
