WESTMINSTER, Md. — The Catholic University softball team traveled north for a non-conference doubleheader against McDaniel on Tuesday afternoon. The Cardinals got strong pitching in game one from senior Katie Hurd while McDaniel picked up game two in extra innings. 

GAME ONE: Catholic 6, McDaniel 0

The Cardinals rallied behind an inspired performance by Katie Hurd in the circle in game one. The senior hurled a complete game shutout to claim her sixth win of the season and 24th of her career.

Hurd did not allow a hit until the fourth inning before spreading six hits and just one walk over the seven frames. She threw 109 pitches while only allowing one extra-base hit and striking out three in the inspired performance.

Entering the contest, Hurd sat at 5-7 on the season but owned an ERA of just 2.64. Today she got some much-needed run support and took advantage, shutting down the Green Terror lineup. 

The Cardinals jumped on McDaniel at the first attempt, pushing across two runs before McDaniel had the opportunity to bat. With the bases loaded, Katie Scolese took advantage of a 2-0 count to push a single through the right side to drive in two runs. After Olivia Stinchcomb singled to load the bases again, a fielder's choice allowed Scolese to push Catholic's lead to 3-0.

Catholic remained three runs to the good until the fifth inning when Kaitlyn Murphy delivered an RBI single to score Sarah Spaeth after winning the battle on a full-count pitch.

Spaeth and Murphy were involved again in the top of the seventh when both registered an RBI. Spaeth singled to center field to score pinch-runner Samantha Grillo before Murphy took another full-count pitch to center field for a sacrifice fly to drive in another pinch-runner, Toni Ruley.

Six different Cardinals scored while Amanda Gomez, Amy Gastright and Spaeth all registered multi-hit games.

GAME TWO: McDaniel 10, Catholic 9 (9 innings)

In game two, Catholic allowed seven runs in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings, giving up a 5-0 lead before losing the game 10-9 in nine innings.

Garza, Caroline Adams, Spaeth, and Stinchcomb all had multi-hit games as the Cardinals tallied 12 hits. 

Similarly to game one, Catholic plated multiple runs in the first inning, jumping ahead 3-0 with a little help from the McDaniel defense. After an error led to a 1-0 lead, Spaeth drove in a run with a sacrifice fly to put the Cardinals ahead 2-0. Scolese followed it up with an RBI double and the Catholic lead was three. 

Catholic added two more runs via error in the second inning to put the Cardinals up by five runs. McDaniel scored six unanswered in the fourth and fifth innings to jump ahead 6-5 before Bruce McConkey's team responded with two runs in the sixth. 

Stinchcomb drove in Spaeth to tie the game in the sixth inning before Catholic took a 7-6 lead on an RBI single from freshman Kerri Hatcliffe. McDaniel knotted things back up at 7-7 in the bottom of the sixth and after an inning with no runs scored, the game went into extras. 

As is the rule for non-conference play, Catholic started the eighth inning with a runner on second. Stinchcomb struck again, doubling down the line to score Spaeth and retake the lead. Murphy singled through the right side to extend the lead to two. 

However, McDaniel scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth, extending the game further before the Green Terror walked it off in the bottom of the ninth for a 10-9 victory. 

Catholic hosts Elizabethtown on Saturday in a Landmark Conference doubleheader.