WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Catholic University softball team concluded its regular season Sunday with a nine-inning, non-conference loss to Hood, 5-4, on Senior Day.

Prior to the game, the Cardinals (13-16) honored its two seniors from a year ago in Allie Lajeunesse and graduate student Makayla Czan as well as this year's lone senior, Bella Ronca.

Scheduled as a doubleheader, game two was called in the bottom of the third due to rain with Catholic lead 3-2 with one out.

With the first game tied at 4-4 after seven innings, the two teams headed to extra innings for the second time in as many games this season. The Blazers also won by one run in nine innings back on March 1, 6-5.

Utilizing the international tiebreaker, neither team was able to drive in the winning run in the eighth before Hood managed to score on a foul out to shortstop with one out in the top of the ninth. Following a diving catch by sophomore Sophia Fike in foul territory, Colleen Blasko managed to scamper home from third to put the Blazers in front by one.

Fike was then placed on second to start the bottom of the inning and despite sacrificing her to third with one out, the Cardinals couldn't get the equalizer as Rebecca Gottleib retired the next two batters she faced on infield ground outs.

Catholic jumped out to a 2-0 lead after five thanks to two RBI-singles from junior Katie Hurd. Hurd drove in freshman Amanda Gomez with a single to third base in the bottom of the third before scoring sophomore Hailee Weiss with a two-out double in the bottom of the fifth.

Hood quickly responded with two runs in the top of the sixth to tie the game before junior Sarah Spaeth blasted her third home run of the season to center field in the bottom of the inning to put the Cardinals back in front.

Catholic added its fourth run in the inning on a two-out single through the right side by Gomez that scored Fike. The hit was the third of three-straight singles by Fike, Weiss and Gomez.

The run proved to be invaluable as the Blazers pushed across two runs in the top of the seventh to the game for the second time. They had a chance for more with the bases loaded and one out, but sophomore Justina Benvenuto, who entered the game in relief of Hurd worked out of the game with a strikeout and a ground out to end the threat.

Hurd was pivotal both in the circle and at the plate as she scattered 10 hits over 6.1 innings and went 2-for-4 with two RBIs. She was one of seven Cardinals with a hit, including one of four with multiple hits as Fike, Weiss and Spaeth each had two.

Jocelyn Pfleiger was 3-for-5 with two RBIs for Hood while Hurd's counterpart, Gottleib, went 3-for-5 with one RBI. She also picked up her 11th win in the circle, going the full 9.0 innings while striking out three.

Catholic returns to action on Friday in the opening game of the 2022 Landmark Conference Softball Championship. The fourth-seeded Cardinals take on host and top-seeded Susquehanna beginning at 1 p.m.