CAMDEN, N.J. - Catholic hit the road for a mid-week non-conference matchup with Rutgers-Camden, sweeping the Scarlet Raptors to earn wins number 20 and 21 on the season.
Game 1 - Catholic 10, Rutgers-Camden 4
The top three hitters in the Catholic lineup,
Toni Ruley,
Sophia Fike, and
Mia Szap, added three hits each to combine for nine of the team's 12 hits in game one. Szap doubled twice while Ruley added a two bagger of her own while Fike raised her batting average with her sixth three-hit game of the season.
Sophomore
Leeah Koegel smacked the first home run of her career in the victory while
Grace Tolle drove in two runs for the Cardinals.
In the circle,
Justina Benvenuto picked up her third win of the season, tossing 6.0 innings of one-run ball.
Catholic opened the game with three straight singles. Ruley and Fike were set to advance to second and third on Szap's single back up the middle, but an error allowed Ruley to score and Fike to move up to third.
Alex Garza proceeded to drive in Fike with a sacrifice fly to right. With two outs and a 2-0 lead, Tolle singled up the middle to score Szap, but was thrown out on the bases to end the frame.
In the third, Szap doubled and scored on an RBI ground out off the bat of Tolle before Fike drove in Ruley with an RBI single in the fourth inning to give Catholic a 5-0 lead.
Leading 5-1 in the top of the sixth, Koegel hit a solo shot with one out to push the lead to five runs. Later in the inning, Szap drove in Fike with her second double of the game before scoring on an error. Ruley drove in two runs in the seventh to get Catholic to 10 runs.
Fike,
Sam Grillo,
Olivia Brousseau, and
Hailee Weiss all picked up a stolen base in the win.
Game 2 - Catholic 6, Rutgers-Camden 2
Alex Pley tossed a complete game to earn her eighth win of the season while Ruley hit the first home run of her career in the victory. Pley allowed seven hits and struck out three in the win.
Szap made it a six-hit, three-double day while
Kerri Hatcliffe chipped in with three hits and two RBI. Ruley also made it second multi-hit game of the day, driving in two more runs.
After Rutgers-Camden scored a run in the bottom of the first, Catholic responded in the second.
Olivia Stinchcomb doubled and moved up on a wild pitch. Tolle drew a walk with her pinch-runner Brousseau swiping second. Hatcliffe singled up the middle to score Stinchcomb, but Brousseau was thrown out trying to make it a 2-1 game.
In the fourth, Szap led the inning off with a double and moved up to third on a Stinchcomb ground out before Tolle drove her in with an RBI ground out. Catholic made it 3-1 in the fifth as Ruley drilled a two-out homer to right center.
Hatcliffe came through again in the sixth, singling to center to score Szap. The final two runs for Catholic game in the seventh as Ruley drove in
Caroline Adams and Szap singled to score Ruley,
Szap saw a massive boost to her batting average as she pushed it to .360 after a massive day at the plate. Her three doubles give her six on the season, tying her with
Katie Scolese for second on the team. Ruley became the sixth player this season to drive in 10 or more runs for the Cardinals while Fike added to her team lead with 14 stolen bases.
Catholic will ready for a massive Landmark Conference doubleheader versus Moravian on Saturday afternoon in D.C.
