CLERMONT, Fla. – A high-scoring game gave the Catholic University Softball team 27 runs in total on the fourth day of play at The Spring Games in the sweep against Penn State New Kensington and Plymouth State on Wednesday.

Game 1: Catholic 25, Penn State New Kensington 0 (Five innings)

Nine different Cardinals were responsible for putting up 25 runs on 17 hits in a five-inning game against Penn State New Kensington. Senior pitcher Claire Sturek recorded seven strikeouts in three innings of action while freshman Cat Connell sat down two batters in two innings in the circle. Out of 37 at bats, not one Cardinal drew a strikeout against the Lions. 

Junior centerfielder Makayla Czan, sophomore second baseman Bella Ronca, senior designated player Sabrina Scott, junior first baseman Juliet Lodes and senior catcher Kacie Badolato put up  six doubles and sophomore left fielder Sophie Maccarone's first career triple highlighted Catholic's at bats 

The Cardinals capitalized on early errors made by the Lions with six runs scored on only three hits and two errors in the top of the first. The following inning proved similar with seven runs scored on five hits and one error to bring the score to 13-0 in the top of the second. 

Junior right fielder McKenzie Plante started off the third with a single to left field and advanced to second when junior short stop Giselle Diaz reached first on a fielding error. Junior third baseman Allie Lajeunessesingled to second to load the bases as Maccarone drove in two runs with a hard-hit ball placed up the middle. Ronca drew a walk to advance all runners around the bases and to score Lajeunesse for a 16-0 lead. 

Several walks and passed balls allowed for another six runs on only two hits for the Cardinals in the fourth inning to extend the score to 22-0. The fifth and final inning provided Catholic with their last three runs on four hits. Freshman Lizzie Lange drew her first career walk to later be driven home by Lajeunesse's single to left center. The Lions could not get their bats going by the bottom of the fifth, resulting in the final score of 25-0. 

 Game 2: Catholic 2, Plymouth State 0

Freshman pitcher Katie Hurd went the full distance in the second game against the Plymouth State University Panthers, allowing six hits in seven innings on the mound with four strikeouts and no walks. Scott hit her third homerun of the season to score one of the two runs to ensure Catholic's sweep on day four.

A strong performance by the Catholic defense kept two runners on base from crossing home to balance the score at 0-0 by the bottom of the first. Freshman catcher Sammy Phillips started off the second with a single through the right side and advanced to second followed by junior right fielder Taylor Forgen reaching first on a hard-hit single on the right field line. An error by the Panthers put Lodes on first to load the bases for the Cardinals. Diaz put the ball through to the right side to drive in Phillips to put Catholic up 1-0. 

The Panthers were unable to respond in the top of the third as they left one runner on base to lose a scoring opportunity. A solo homerun over the fence in left center by Scott provided Catholic with their two-run lead over Plymouth State by the end of the inning. 

An impressive defensive performance by the Cardinals in the fourth inning secured their lead. With the bases loaded and no outs, Catholic was able to field a line drive and two pop ups to end the inning to not allow any runners to cross the plate. The Panther's bats never came alive as they were unable to balance the runs the Cardinals put on the board producing the final score of 2-0 and improving their overall record to 6-4. 

Catholic will finish up The Spring Games tomorrow when they face Washington and Jefferson at 10:00 a.m. and No. 25 ranked Manhattanville at 12:15 p.m.