By Tim Marcin
Elm Sports Editor
When the softball team took on the Swarthmore Garnet in a doubleheader on Tuesday, the two teams were even in just about every way possible. They split the games, each team picking up a conference win. Both games ended with a 4-3 score, meaning each team managed to score seven total runs, in two close one-run games. It does not get any more tightly contested than that.
Game one of the matinee belonged to the Shorewomen. The offense was powered by right fielder sophomore Suzanne Patinella and third baseman freshman Jaclyn Jayo. Patinella uncorked a solo home run to account for one of the WC runs, while Jayo drove in the other three. Two of Jayo’s RBI came on sacrifice flies, showcasing a knack for situational hitting and the Shorewomen’s ability to play “small ball.”
In fact, Jayo won the game on such a play. After a wild pitch advanced a runner to third, Jayo hit a sacrifice fly to bring in the winning run in walk-off fashion in the bottom of the seventh inning. That timely piece of hitting broke a 3-3 deadlock that came about after the Garnet had a two-run top of the sixth. Jayo proved that the Shorewomen could come up even more clutch.
Sophomore Christine Anderson picked up her eighth win for WC after pitching all seven innings, and allowing just one earned run (two unearned).
The second game saw fortunes reversed. Patinella hit another homer, her second blast of the day, to tie the game at 3-3 in just the second inning. Again, the game was close, but this time Swarthmore was able to break the deadlock. They scored on an RBI single in the fourth, and secured their 18th win of the year.
WC is 21-12 (9-5 Centennial Conference) on the season after the split, and is having another stellar year. This is the third year in a row they have won at least 21 games, a feat only accomplished just once before the three-season streak.