Bethlehem, Pa. — The Catholic University softball team picked up a big win over Susquehanna in the opening game of the 2023 Landmark Conference tournament on Friday afternoon, propelling them into the winner's bracket in the double-elimination field.

The third-seeded Cardinals jumped on Susquehanna early, plating two runs before the River Hawks even stepped into the batter's box. After the Cardinal lead-off hit was retired, four-straight walks from Amanda Amerman allowed Catholic to go station-to-station and open the scoring. Sophia Fike got the RBI walk to score Caroline Adams before Katie Scolese produced a sacrifice fly to plate Amanda Gomez.

Immediately after being named to the All-Landmark Conference Second Team yesterday, senior Katie Hurd was brilliant yet again in the circle, holding the River Hawks at bay throughout the contest. 

After a one-two-third opening frame, Hurd was aided by some high-level Cardinal defense. After a one-out triple, Catholic was alert to a "safety squeeze" effort by Susquehanna. Sarah Spaeth threw to second-basemen to Hailee Weiss covering first, before she threw home to Kaitlyn Murphy to complete the well-executed and well-timed double play.

Catholic extended its lead in the fourth inning, plating three runs off of relief pitcher Brianna Jones. Catholic was aided by a throwing error that allowed two runs to score after a Weiss bunt. Alex Garza then came through with an RBI double to right field.

Susquehanna hit back immediately in the bottom of the frame, put three runs of their own on the board. Three straight River Hawk hitters registered RBIs with a sacrifice fly, a double and single, respective. Hurd did well to battle through the inning, forcing a fly out and a foul out to end the threat, keeping the score at 5-3.

The Cardinals then blew the game wide open with four runs in the top of the fifth. A one-out Fike triple ignited the rally before four different Cardinals drove in a run.

Balanced offensive production was the story of the day, with eight of the nine Cardinal starters registering hits and eight of the nine scoring a run. Six different players registered an RBI. Scolese led the way with three hits, two RBIs and two runs.

Hurd earned her 11th win of the season, having now earned the victory in six-straight starts. She also struck out four River Hawks, pushing her career total to 150. She did not walk a batter.

With the win, the Cardinals move into the winner's bracket and will face top-seeded Moravian, who defeated Scranton in their opening game. First pitch is scheduled for 10 a.m. with the winner advancing directly into Sunday's championship series.