Softball recap

The Carnegie Mellon softball team visited the Allegheny Gators for a double-header on Tuesday, and a standout performance by junior Gwen Delacruz, both at the plate and in the circle, along with a career-first home run by first-year Addy Sewack, helped the Tartans take both games cleanly.

In game one, neither team made substantial progress in the first inning, but Delacruz’s hit at the top of the second allowed junior Io Jette-Kouri to score Carnegie Mellon’s first run. A huge, base-clearing hit by sophomore Tessa Bruneau then added three more runs to the scoreboard. The Tartans did well to hold onto their lead, limiting Allegheny to a single run in the bottom of the second, and headed into the third inning leading 4-1. Another big hit from Delacruz at the top of the third added two runs to the Carnegie Mellon tally, and the Tartans quickly closed out the inning, giving Allegheny no chance to score. The fourth inning swung in favor of the Gators, with the visitors unable to capitalize in the top, and the home side recording four runs in the bottom to make it 6-5.

The fifth inning saw Delacruz hit left and junior Audra Scheinman sprint home to put Carnegie Mellon up 7-5, before an Allegheny throwing error with the bases loaded increased the margin to 10-5. Once again, the Tartans prevented the Gators from scoring any runs in the bottom of the fifth. Unfortunately, Carnegie Mellon was unable to keep their momentum in the top of the sixth, ending the inning with no runs scored. Allegheny fought back, recording two runs in the bottom of the inning to make the score 10-7. In the final inning, junior Megan Hu hit into the left field with the bases loaded, and the Tartans scored two more runs. Allegheny managed one more run in the bottom of the seventh, but it wasn’t enough, and the Tartans took game one 12-8.

The Tartans started out game two with a run by first-year Kiera Boucher following a single by sophomore Emily Finger in the first inning, then doubles from junior Meghan Holquist, Sewack, and Boucher, coupled with runs by junior Audrey Pederson, along with Holquist and Bruneau, put Carnegie Mellon up 4-0. A throwing error that followed a hit by Hu then allowed Boucher to reach home, allowing the Tartans to end the second inning 5-0. The visitors were unable to capitalize in the third inning, while the home side scored one run to make it 5-1.

This result was flipped for the next two innings, with the Gators unable to score as Bruneau and Scheinman’s hits saw Scheinman and junior Emily Song score for the Tartans, in the fourth and fifth innings respectively, extending the scoreline to 7-1. The sixth inning was runless, with neither team able to capitalize. Sewack hit a fantastic home run in the top of the seventh inning, and Allegheny responded with one run of their own in the bottom to make the final game two score 8-2 in favor of the Tartans.

With this sweeping victory, the Carnegie Mellon softball team is now 12-5-1 for the season.