WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Catholic softball team earned its place in the Landmark Conference Championships with a doubleheader sweep of Juniata. The Cardinals will be the three seed in next weekend's tournament, with Moravian hosting as the top seed. Seniors Katie Hurd and Sarah Spaeth were honored in a pre-game senior ceremony. 

GAME ONE - Catholic 3, Juniata 0

Hurd was tremendous in leading the Cardinals to a game-one victory. The senior earned her ninth win of the season and 27th of her career as she fired a complete game shutout, allowing just one hit in the contest. Hurd retired the first nine batters of the game before allowing a leadoff single in the fourth inning. Opposing pitcher Cate Baran stole second and third after the single, but Hurd retired the next three batters to keep Baran stranded. 

Catholic took advantage of Hurd battling out of the jam by scoring two runs in the bottom of the fourth. Caroline Adams singled and advanced to second on an error in the outfield. Amanda Gomez sacrificed her over to third and Spaeth drove in the first run of the game with a double into the gap in left. Sophia Fike singled to the shortstop and moved up to second as the Eagles tried to back-pick Spaeth at third. Katie Scolese hit a ball sharply to short that would have scored Spaeth regardless, but it was booted for an error to allow Scolese to reach. 

The Cardinals added one for good measure in the bottom of the sixth inning as Fike led off the inning with a single before Olivia Stinchcomb drove her in with a double to left. 

Catholic totaled eight hits in the game with Fike going 3-3 with a run scored. 

GAME TWO - Catholic 9, Juniata 5

Bruce McConkey's squad ran back the same exact lineup for game two with Hurd taking the ball for the Cardinals once again. Hurd was sensational through five, racking up 12 straight scoreless innings before the Eagles put together a rally in the sixth inning to narrow the gap. 

The Cardinals racked up 11 hits in game two with Gomez logging three hits and three RBIs while Kaitlyn Murphy drove in a pair of runs for Catholic. 

Catholic put three runs on the board in the bottom of the first with a little help from the Juniata defense. Alex Garza walked with an Adams bunt single to follow. The pair moved up 60 feet after a passed ball and Gomez drove in Garza with a single to center field. The ball got away from Reagan Goldsmith and Adams came in to score as well while Gomez moved up to second. Spaeth reached on another error with Gomez scoring as the ball caromed into the outfield and just like that the Cardinals were up 3-0. 

The Cardinals used four hits in the third to bring in three more runs and take a 6-0 lead. Fike hit a double down the right-field line, sparking a two-out rally. Scolese drove in Fike with a single up the middle, advancing to second on the throw home. Stinchcomb singled up the middle to put runners on the corners for Murphy. Toni Ruley pinch-ran for Catholic, swiping second base to give Murphy two runners in scoring position. The junior catcher singled to right, bringing home two runs. 

In the bottom of the fourth, Adams laced a one-out single up the middle and stole second before scoring on an RBI single from Gomez. Juniata went to the bullpen, replacing Maryn Swank with Gracie Ruch who retired the next two batters. 

The Eagles plated five runs in the sixth on five hits and three Cardinal errors, forcing Hurd from the game for Justina Benvenuto. Benvenuto allowed a single before Ruch reached on an error to bring in another run. Benvenuto got Kay Magill to ground out to end the inning with Catholic ahead 7-5. 

The Catholic offense came through in the bottom of the sixth to put two insurance runs on the board. Adams drew a two-out walk before Gomez shot a ball into the right-center gap, allowing Adams who got a great jump to score all the way from first. Caught in between first and second after Juniata first baseman Lauren Fisher cut the ball off, Gomez took off for second and Fisher fired it into the outfield, scoring Gomez on the play. Spaeth cracked her second double of the game moments later, but Fike grounded out to end the inning. 

Benvenuto got through the seventh as Hailee Weiss made a diving catch to end the game, securing Catholic's spot in the Landmark Championships. 

Catholic will face second-seeded Susquehanna on Friday at 3:00 p.m. in the second game of the day at Moravian. Moravian will be the one seed and Scranton will be the four seed.