KISSIMMEE, Fla. - Catholic picked up a doubleheader split on day one of The Spring Games in Florida, defeating Kenyon after dropping the first game to Saint Joseph's (Me.). 

GAME ONE – Catholic 0-3 Saint Joseph's (Me.)

Sunday morning's contest between Catholic and Saint Joseph's remained scoreless after five and a half innings before the Monks broke through in the sixth to take a 3-0 lead. Senior pitcher Katie Hurd was stellar in the contest, mowing through Saint Joseph's hitters prior to the inning.

With one out and the bases loaded in the inning, Sylvia Foley roped a double to center, clearing the bases to put the Monks in the lead. Olivia Stinchcomb entered in relief of Hurd and retired the final two batters to send it to Catholic's final at-bat.

Sarah Spaeth drew a walk in the inning, but Meredith Pence continued her standout day in the circle for the Monks, closing things out to earn the win. Pence allowed just three hits and struck out four.

Katie Scolese, Hurd, and Caroline Adams each had hits for the Cardinals. Hurd scattered six hits across 5.1 innings, striking out three while allowing the three runs.

GAME TWO – Catholic 7-4 Kenyon

Catholic fell behind 3-0 in the fourth inning before a five-run inning led the Cardinals to victory over Kenyon on Sunday afternoon in Florida. Alex Garza drove in a pair of runs for the Cardinals while Amanda Gomez and Amy Gastright each had RBIs for Catholic. 

Catholic starting pitcher Justina Benvenuto tossed three scoreless innings before Kenyon got on the board in the fourth with an RBI double and a two-run homer. Trailing 3-0, Aubrynn Arcement entered the game for Catholic and retired the final batter of the inning before going on to finish the contest. 

Garza came up big in the inning, roping a two-out two-run double to score Spaeth and Samantha Grillo who pinch-ran for Grace Tolle. Gastright pinch hit for Caroline Adams, doubling to center to score pinch runner Toni Ruley and tie the contest at 3-3. Next up, Sophia Fike singled, advancing the runner to third before an error put Catholic ahead 4-3. Finally, Gomez brought home Fike with an RBI single to put Catholic ahead 5-3. 

Kenyon scored in the sixth to make it 5-4, but Catholic tacked on two more runs with help from the Kenyon defense in the bottom of the inning. After Fike singled and stole second, Gomez laid down a sac bunt, but another error allowed Fike to score on the play and sent Gomez all the way to third. Gomez came home to score on a passed ball later in the inning. Arcement closed out a 7-4 win for the Cardinals, earning the win after 3.1 innings of one-run ball. 

Catholic is right back at it tomorrow with Coast Guard at 2 p.m. and La Roche at 4:30 p.m.