CLERMONT, Fla. - After falling to Muskingum in the opener, the Catholic University softball team responded with a season-high 13 runs in a 13-2 victory over Illinois College Tuesday at The Spring Games.

The Cardinals (4-2) scored 13 runs on 12 hits against the Lady Blues, both season highs.

Senior Allie Lajeunesse went 3-for-6 with three RBIs in both games. She has reached base safely in all five games this season while recording at least one hit in four.

Muskingum 2, Catholic 1

Lajeunesse had two of the team's four hits against the Muskies (5-0) who remained unbeaten and began the day with a 7-0 shutout against No. 23 College of Saint Benedict.

The Cardinals took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when Lajeunesse singled to left center with two outs to score sophomore Sophia Fike.

However, Muskingum answered with an RBI-single from Haley Hawk in the bottom of the inning before Hawk drove in the game-winning run in the bottom of the third on a sacrifice bunt.

That would be all the Muskies would need as the duo of Alyssa Marlatt and Madelyn Thomas limited Catholic to just one run on four hits while striking out nine. Thomas picked up the win in relief, striking out six and holding the Cardinals to just one hit over the final 3.2 innings.

Junior Sarah Spaeth and senior Bella Ronca each had one hit for Catholic who stranded eight runners on base.

Catholic 13, Illinois College 2

After the Lady Blues (3-4) took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on a two-out single by Cheyenne Anderson, the Cardinals erupted for 12 runs on seven hits in the bottom of the inning.

Catholic sent 18 batters to the plate in its first at-bat, going completely through the lineup twice. Junior Sammy Phillips went 2-for-2 with three RBIs in the inning, giving the Cardinals a 3-1 lead with a two-run single before putting them in front 10-1 with another RBI-single in her second at-bat.

Freshman Amanda Gomez also had two hits in the inning, inlcuding a triple, while driving in two runs.

Catholic scored all 12 runs without recording an out as the first 14 batters reached base on seven hits and six walks.

Fike drove in the team's final run in the bottom of the second with an RBI-single. She finished the game 3-for-3 with a walk, two RBIs and two runs scored.

A total of eight players had at least one hit for the Cardinals, including junior Claire Prudhomme, sophomore Hailee Weiss and freshman Toni Ruley, each of whom had the first of their careers.

Sophomore Justina Benvenuto picked up her second win of the season in her second-straight start after allowing just two runs on seven hits over 4.0 innings. Sophomore Alexa Wienclaw made her first career appearance in relief, retiring all three batters she faced in the top of the fifth.

Catholic has the day off on Wednesday before returning to action with two more games on Thursday. The Cardinals face Haverford at 2:45 p.m. before taking on Simmons at 5 p.m.