COLLEGE PARK, Md.  —  The Catholic softball team looked to get back on track in conference play with a doubleheader against Elizabethtown on Wednesday afternoon. The Cardinals came up with timely hits over the course of both games to come away with a two game sweep of the Blue Jays to move to 4-2 in Landmark play. After two scoreless innings to start the game, the Cardinals finally found a breakthrough in the bottom of the third inning to take a lead that they would not surrender for the rest of the game. Amanda Gomez and Sam Grillo both worked their way onto base with a walk and set up a first and third situation with two outs for Katie Scolese. Scolese missed a homer by a couple of feet, parking one off the wall in center field to plate both runners to make it a 2-0 Catholic lead.

After a solo homer from Elizabethtown in the top of the fourth, Catholic answered back with two more runs in the bottom of the inning to push the lead out to 4-1. Olivia Stinchcomb ripped a double down the left field line to start the inning, then two batters later Katie McHugh started off her memorable game with a two run homer to dead center field to push the lead to three.

McHugh was far from done on the afternoon, stepping to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the fifth. McHugh launched her second home run of the game, this time to left field to make it a six RBI game for herself to extend the lead to 8-1. McHugh became the first player with six RBI in a game for Catholic since her head coach Sophie Maccarone did so in the 2020 season. 

The Blue Jays added another run in the sixth, but Morgan O'Sullivan shut things down in relief, retiring all six batters she faced over the final two innings to lock down an 8-2 win for the Cardinals to start 1-0 on the day. The Cardinals once again grabbed an early lead after Elise Faxon drove in Emma Fleming with an RBI double down the left field line to go up 1-0 in the first. The lead was doubled in the next inning as Stinchcomb smoked a solo homer to left field for her fourth home run of the season.

The Blue Jays answered back with a big inning in the top of the third with four runs, all coming in with two outs, to take their first lead of the day 4-2. The Cardinals would not trail for long however, answering right back with four runs of their own to take the lead back 6-4. Aubrynn Arcement started off the rally with a double into center field and was brought home quickly on a double from McHugh. A Stinchcomb double put two in scoring position for Catholic and Toni Ruley and Gomez came up with back-to-back singles to bring in two more runs for the Cardinals.

Elizabethtown evened the game back up by plating runs in both the top of the fourth and fifth inning. Catholic once again came up with a response in the bottom of the fifth inning to take a 7-6 lead. Ruley worked her way on base with a walk and Fleming came up with an RBI single with two outs in the inning to bring Ruley home to give Catholic the lead in the late innings.

Stinchcomb came in to pitch the final two innings and ran into a jam in the top of the seventh with runners on first and third with only one out. Stinchcomb induced a pop out and a line out to strand the tying run at third and earn herself a save to close out a 7-6 win for the Cardinals to finish the day 2-0.

Inside the Box Score

• McHugh's two home runs in game one gave her her first multi-homer game of her career and brought her season total to five which leads the team. Her five home runs are currently second most in the conference and she finished the day 3-for-6, all of which were for extra-bases, with seven RBI.
• Stinchcomb also put together a solid day at the plate, finishing 3-for-6 with a homer, two doubles and three runs scored. In addition, she earned her first save of the season and has now pitched 13.1 innings without allowing an earned run this season.
• Sophia Colangelo picked up her team-leading seventh win of the season in game two, which is also the second-most in the Landmark this season. She allowed just one earned run through five innings with two strikeouts to get the win in game two.

The Cardinals will once again play at Maryland Softball Stadium on Saturday, April 5 for another Landmark doubleheader against Drew. First pitch for the first game is slated for 1 pm.