COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Catholic University softball team split with Hood in its home-opener on Thursday afternoon. Catholic fell 7-4 in the first game before bouncing back with an 8-2 win. The Cardinals sit at 2-2 on the season ahead of their upcoming Florida trip. 


Game One – Catholic 4, Hood 7
Despite a three-RBI game from freshman Mia Szap, Catholic dropped the first game of Thursday's doubleheader, 7-4. The Cardinals gave up three runs to Hood in the opening frame and could not chip its way back into the contest. 

Catholic tallied nine hits with Kaitlyn Murphy joining Szap with a muti-hit performance. Elise Faxon drove in the fourth run of the game for Catholic in a pinch-hit appearance. 

Aubrynn Arcement gave up three runs in the first before settling down. Arcement allowed just one unearned run before tiring in the seventh and giving way to Amy Gastright. 

Catholic scored two in the seventh, making a valiant comeback effort before unfortunately falling short. Sophia Fike reached on an error and moved into scoring position with heads up base running. Szap singled to bring home Fike and kept on running the base paths to move up to third on the throw. Faxon pinch hit for Toni Ruley and hit one sharply back up the middle, but Hood starting pitcher Becca Gottlieb gloved it and took the out at first as Szap crossed home plate to make it 7-4. Gottlieb retired Gastright to end the contest. 

Game Two –  Catholic 8, Hood 2
The Cardinal bats came alive in game two, driving in 8 runs on 14 hits to salvage a split with Hood. 

After giving up a two-run homer in the top of the first inning, starting pitcher Alex Pley held Hood scoreless for the remainder of the contest. She faced 22 batters and gave up three hits while recording four strikeouts in six innings before giving way to Justina Benvenuto to close it out. 

Fike, Katie Scolese and Alex Garza all had three hits in the contest and each recorded an RBI. Murphy also added a hit and RBI in the win. 

The first run for the Cardinals came off a Scolese single up the middle. Fike stood on second after a base hit and was able to round the bases well before the throw home to cut the deficit to one. The second inning started with a walk drawn by Kerri Hatcliffe and a sacrifice bunt by Murphy to move her to second. A wild pitch put Hatcliffe on third with one out and a single by Garza tied the game at two apiece. 

Two more runs crossed the plate for the Cardinals in each of the following two innings. Fike bombed a lead off triple to center field and Faxon walked to set up a first and third situation with no outs. Faxon attempted to take second and baited the Blazers into a throw, which allowed Fike to come home. Another Scolese hit and a Hatcliffe walk gave Murphy the perfect set up for an RBI single to center field. The hits kept coming in the fourth with singles by Garza and Adams through the left side, Gomez up the middle and Fike to center field. 

Now up 6-2 after four, Catholic took a break from scoring in the fifth before adding two runs in the sixth to seal the contest. This time it was Garza who crossed the plate after a lead off single followed by Caroline Adams who scored on a wild pitch. 

The Cardinals will travel to Kissimmee, Florida for a spring break trip featuring ten games, all against different opponents. The first game is set for Sunday, March 10 at 4 p.m. against Montclair State.