WASHINGTON, D.C.  —  The Catholic softball team looked to capture a pair of wins in a non-conference matchup against Mary Washington on Tuesday afternoon. The Cardinals paired solid pitching with a strong offensive output to cruise to two victories over the Eagles to improve their record to 23-9 on the season. After a scoreless first inning, the Cardinals jumped on the Eagles for three runs in the bottom of the second inning to take momentum that they would hold for the rest of the game. With one out, Olivia Stinchcomb singled up the middle and Katie McHugh brought her to the plate on a two-run homer into right field to score Catholic's first two runs. Toni Ruley singled through the left side of the infield and stole second to put herself into scoring position. Amanda Gomez followed up with a RBI single into right field to bring Ruley to the plate to cap off the scoring in the inning. 

McHugh added on to her RBI total in the bottom of the third after the Cardinals loaded up the bases with one out. McHugh poked a single into center field to score both Katie Scolese and Amy Gastright to push the lead out to five.

Catholic's biggest inning at the plate in the game came in the bottom of the fourth when they brought in four runs on four hits to take a commanding 9-0 lead. Sam Grillo roped a double into left center field to start the inning off and later came in to score on a wild pitch. Aubrynn Arcement tacked on the second run of the inning on a sacrifice fly into center field to bring Scolese in to score. Kerri Hatcliffe added the other two runs in the inning for the Cardinals with a two-run single into left field.

After the Eagles scored their only two runs of the game in the top of the fifth, Arcement wrapped the game up in the bottom of the inning with her second RBI of the game on a groundout to third which scored Gomez to close out a 10-2 win for the Cardinals in game one. Catholic once again jumped on Mary Washington early as Gomez and Grillo each reached base on a hit by pitch and bunt single respectively to start the bottom of the first. A flyout advanced both runners into scoring position and Arcement brought them in to score by ripping a triple into the left field corner to make it 2-0. Gastright followed up with a single down the left field line to bring Arcement to the plate to extend the lead to three.

Alex Pley kept the Eagles off the board for the first three innings while only allowing two hits and picking up a strikeout to hold on to the three run lead. The Eagles picked up their only run of the game in the top of the fourth on an RBI double from Sofia Marshall to cut the deficit down to two.

The Cardinals put together another stellar inning at the plate with five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to extend the lead out to 8-1. Arcement and Gastright each singled into center field to kick the inning off and Stinchcomb brought both in to score on a two-RBI double into right center field. Olivia Brousseau pinch-ran and came in to score after a stolen base at second allowed her to bolt to the plate. Hatcliffe picked up an RBI on a groundout to the shortstop to bring in McHugh. Grillo added the last run of the game for Catholic three batters later when she rolled a single through the right side of the infield to score Ruley to extend the lead out to seven.

Pley, Sophia Colangelo and Morgan O'Sullivan combined to hold the Eagles to just one run on four hits with six strikeouts to lock down a two-game sweep for the Cardinals with an 8-1 victory.

Inside the Box Score

• McHugh's home run in game one of the doubleheader was her sixth of the season, making her the first player since Makayla Czan in 2018 to hit six homers in a season. Her six homers and tied for the fourth-most in a single season in program history and are the second-most in the Landmark Conference this season. She is now tied for the team-lead in RBI with 22 on the season.
• Stinchcomb added another double to her total in the second game to bring her season total to a Landmark leading 13 which is tied for the fifth-most in a single season in program history. She is currently tied for the team lead in hits with 34 which is tied for the 13th-most in the conference.
• Arcement continued her strong season at the plate with three hits in game two to bring her season batting average to a team-leading .400 (24-for-60). Her batting average is tied for the ninth-highest in the Landmark and she also tallied her third triple of the season which is tied for the most on the team. 

The Cardinals play their final non-conference road doubleheader of the season at McDaniel on Thursday, April 24. First pitch for game one is set for 3 pm at The Green Terror Softball Park.