ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. — The Catholic University softball team earned a vital sweep of Elizabethtown in Landmark Conference play on Sunday, putting the Cardinals in command of their own destiny entering the final weekend of the regular season.

Game 1: Catholic 9-0 Elizabethtown (6 inn.)

Alex Pley tossed a complete-game shutout to earn her 10th win of the season as Catholic nabbed a 9-0 victory over Elizabethtown in six innings on Sunday. Pley scattered two hits and three walks across the 6.0 innings while striking out six batters. The impressive freshman is 10-4 on the season with a 2.11 ERA and has produced eight complete games in 13 starts. She protected a short lead for the first four innings before Catholic exploded for six runs in the fifth and sixth innings to pick up a victory via the mercy rule. 

Amy Gastright smacked a pair of home runs and drove in three runs while Alex Garza drove in a season-high four runs to lead the offensive efforts. Toni Ruley had a three-hit day with an RBI double while stealing a pair of bases. 

Ruley opened up the scoring in the second inning, doubling down the line in right to score Mia Szap who singled and stole second. Runs two and three came in the top of the fourth for Catholic as Garza hit a two-run single to left, scoring Ruley and Kerri Hatcliffe. Hatcliffe was hit by a pitch and was sacrificed over to second before Ruley singled and stole a base to put a pair in scoring position for Garza.

Leading off the top of the fifth, Gastright connected with a solo shot to left center to put Catholic ahead 4-0. The Cardinals would go on to use a five-run sixth inning to set up Pley to close things out early. 

In the sixth, Ruley and Sam Grillo both singled and stole bases before Garza hit another two-run single to left center to make it 6-0. Sophia Fike ripped her sixth triple of the season to right center, scoring Garza to make the lead seven. After a pitching change, Gastright slammed her second home run of the day, scoring Fike to push the Catholic lead to 9-0, where it would remain when the Cardinals achieved the run rule and end the game. 

Game Two: Catholic 6-2 Elizabethtown

The Cardinals got off to the perfect start in game two, plating three runs before the Blue Jays stepped into the batter's box, all coming with two outs.

After Fike started the Cardinals off with a single, she swiped second base to put herself in scoring position with two away. Katie Scolese then came up with the goods, producing a double to score Fike. After Szap reached base on an error, head coach Sophie Maccarone sent Szap in an attempt to draw a throw from the Elizabethtown catcher. The Blue Jays elected to try to gun Szap down at second, and Scolese took the opportunity to trot home and extend the lead. Hatcliffe added a third run in the frame with an RBI single.

Grillo then manufactured a run in the second to make it 4-0. After singling through the left side, the sophomore stole second before Garza brought her home with a base hit.

The Blue Jays halved the deficit in the fourth inning when they got to starting pitcher Justina Benvenuto for the first time. Elizabethtown registered four hits in the inning to chase Benvenuto, who threw 3.0 innings.

Catholic scored again in the top of the fourth when Ruley cashed in on an Etown mistake. After reaching base on an error to begin the inning, the junior stole second to continue the trend of aggressive Cardinal baserunning on the day. She then advanced to third on a passed back before Garza brought her home with a sacrifice fly. The Cardinals added one more in the fifth when they strung three hits together. Gastright led off the inning with a single before Szap followed suit. Then Hatcliffe continued her big day with a single to push the lead back to four.

Olivia Stinchcomb took over for Benvenuto in the circle during the fourth inning. The two runs were charged to Benvenuto as Stinchcomb produced a clean outing, allowing just four hits and one walk in 4.0 innings. Four Cardinals produced multiple hits in game one with Gastright and Ruley leading the way with three apiece before Catholic repeated the feat in game two, when four Cardinals again registered multiple knocks. With her two hits on the day, Fike moved to 55 hits on the season to set the program record for most hits by a player in a single campaign in Catholic history.

With the two victories, Catholic has reached the 25-win mark, surpassing last year's total of 23. The 25 victories is the most since the Cardinals went 27-14 in 2016-17.

Postseason Permutations and What's Next

Seven teams are still alive for the five postseason berths entering the final day of play on Saturday. There is a long list of scenarios with the only things decided so far are that Moravian has clinched the top seed and the right to host the tournament, and Juniata has clinched a spot in the postseason.

Catholic and Susquehanna currently sit in a tie for third at 8-6 while Lycoming and Wilkes are currently level at 7-7 for the final berth into the tournament. Drew still has an outside chance of qualifying as the Rangers have a 6-8 record and plays Wilkes on the final day of the regular season.

The Cardinals will battle Juniata in Huntingdon on Saturday. A split will be enough to clinch a playoff berth but a sweep would elevate Catholic to 10-6 in conference play and give the Cardinals the tiebreaker over Juniata.

Susquehanna, Catholic, Wilkes, Lycoming and Drew will all battle it out for three total spots next Saturday, keeping in mind that the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds will have to battle it out in a one-off, play-in game for the right to compete in the traditional double elimination tournament. First pitch in game one in Huntingdon is set for 1 p.m.