WASHINGTON, D.C. - Catholic softball picked up a sweep of Ursinus to start 4-0 for the first time since the 2021 season on Saturday at Nats Youth Academy.
GAME 1 - Catholic 5, Ursinus 1
Aubrynn Arcement was her usual dominant self in the circle, tossing a complete game four-hitter in game one to earn her second win of the season. The 2024 all-conference choice allowed just a single earned run and struck out three to limit the Bears damage.
Offensively,
Amy Gastright went 2-4 with a double and two driven in for the Cardinals while
Kerri Hatcliffe added the other RBI for the Cardinals. Catholic drew five walks in the contest with
Sam Grillo earning two free passes to go with a single.
Catholic took the lead in the second inning, loading the bases for
Katie Scolese with two outs.
Elise Faxon singled and
Katie McHugh walked before
Toni Ruley and
Amanda Gomez were retired. Grillo drew a walk to load the bases for Scolese who hit it hard to short. Samantha Mallen tried to end the inning with a toss to short, but Grillo beat the throw and both Faxon and McHugh scored on the play.
Ursinus couldn't take advantage of a pair of Catholic miscues in the third, putting runners on second and third with just one out, but Arcement induced a pair of ground outs with Grillo ending the inning with a diving stab at second base.
Gastright put the insurance on the board in the fourth with two away.
Amanda Gomez reached on a bunt single with one away, advancing to second on a throwing error. Grillo singled through the left side, putting two runners on for Scolese. Scolese chopped one to short, but Gomez was thrown out trying to score. With two away, Gastright blasted one to left center, scoring Grillo and Scolese to make it 4-0. Hatcliffe followed with a single, scoring Gastright to make it 5-0.
The Bears scored their lone run in the sixth, getting a base knock from Reagan Robinson to score Anna Evanchik who reached on an error and stole second. Arcement retired the final five batters to close out the win.
GAME 2 - Catholic 15, Ursinus 6 (5 inn.)
After starting as a tight game with Catholic leading just 6-5 after two innings, the Cardinals used an eight-run fourth inning to pick up a nine-run victory in five innings.
Catholic logged 12 hits and drew six walks with Gomez, Scolese,
Olivia Stinchcomb, and Ruley all having multi-hit games. Scolese drove in four runs, Ruley drove in three, and
Katie McHugh, Gomez, and Gastright each drove in two.
A Kayla Carr single put the Bears on the board first, but the Cardinals answered back in the bottom of the first with two runs. Scolese drove in Gomez with a triple to dead center before scoring on a Gastright sacrifice fly.
The Bears got some help in the second, taking advantage of three Cardinal errors to put four runs on the board, taking a 5-2 lead. Evanchik, Carr, and Robinson each drove in runs in the inning.
Not to be outdone, Catholic scored four in the inning, retaking the lead on a Scolese sac fly that scored Grillo to make it 6-5. Catholic had three extra-base hits in the inning starting with Stinchcomb's lead-off double. Ruley drove her in with a one-out double to center before scoring on a Gomez RBI triple. Gomez scored on a wild pitch to tie the contest.
Leading 7-6 entering the bottom of the fourth, Catholic plated eight runs on five hits with the help of two errors. McHugh hit a two-run single to center, scoring Hatcliffe and Gastright before another Ruley double brought in two more runs. Leading 13-6 after a Gomez single, Scolese drove in two with a double to right-center, putting the Cardinals in position to close it out in five.
Sophia Colangelo tossed a one-two-three inning to finish the job for Catholic. The freshman allowed two hits and a run in two innings of relief after entering for
Alex Pley in the fourth. Pley struck out four and allowed five runs, but just one of them was earned.
Catholic will gear up for The Spring Games in Florida, starting on Sunday, March 9 at 9 a.m vs. DeSales.
