Softball: Sendelsky, Gold Power Garnet To Sweep
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SWARTHMORE, Pa. - Christine Sendelsky '09 and Katie Gold '08 slugged home runs as the Garnet swept a Centennial Conference doubleheader from Franklin & Marshall on Thursday afternoon at Clothier Fields. Swarthmore won game one 5-4 and took the second game 4-2, improving to 21-14 overall and 8-6 in the Centennial while the Diplomats fall to 5-32 overall and 1-15 in the Centennial.
The Garnet put themselves in a tie for third in the Centennial Conference standings with Muhlenberg with two games remaining in the 2006 regular season. Swarthmore needs a split in Sunday's CC doubleheader at McDaniel to ensure their first-ever ticket Centennial Conference playoffs.
Game one was a tight affair between two of the Centennial's top strike-out artists in the circle, Swarthmore's freshman sensation Alexandra Zelaski (66 K's) and Diplomats sophomore Bonnie Crouthamel (88 K's).
Both starters matched zeroes until the third inning, when the potent Swarthmore offense got rolling. Senior outfielder Stephanie Rogan and Procacci walked to lead off the inning, and after two Garnet outs, moved up a base on a wild pitch by Crouthamel. On a 2-2 offering from Crouthamel, Sendelsky hit a towering drive to deep center field, giving Swarthmore a 3-0 lead with her fourth home run of the season.
The four dingers in a season puts Sendelsky in a tie with Mary Mintel '05 (2005) and Michelle Walsh '98 (1998) for the most by a Swarthmore player in the last 23 years.
The Diplomats' freshman catcher Lauren Invorvaia showed she could match Sendelsky's pop, smoking the first pitch she saw from Zelaski in the top of the fourth over the center field fence to cut the Garnet lead to 3-1. Swarthmore made it 4-1 when Procacci drew a one-walk, the 100th base on balls of her career, and scored on Katie Gold's RBI single to left.
F&M had runners on first and second with two down in the sixth inning when sophomore Kathleen Clinchy hit a two-run double over the head of Garnet center fielder Lauren Walker. Clinchy came home to tie the game 4-4 on junior Leah Pearlman-Storch's single up the middle. Zelaski retired F&M's Dana Johns on strikes to end the inning.
The Garnet came right back in the bottom of the sixth as Walker started off the inning by drawing a walk from Diplomats' reliever Laura Kaesshaefer. Swarthmore sophomore Dhalia Perez sacrificed Walker to second and pinch hitter Marianne Klingaman '07 sent a fly ball to right field. The F&M outfielder had the ball hit off her glove, allowing Walker to score with the game-winning run.
Zelaski faced the top of the Diplomats lineup in the top of the seventh, but only allowed one base hit before retiring Liz Iannaconi on a come-backer to earn the win. Zelaski (10-5) allowed nine hits and four runs in seven innings, striking out four without walking a batter.
The second game also featured a strong pitching performance by a Garnet hurler and a home run off the bat of a Swarthmore slugger.
Klingaman (6-5) spread seven hits out over seven innings, blemished only by a seventh-inning home run from Clinchy, on her way to her third win of April. Klingaman dropped her season ERA to 2.60, striking out a batter while only walking one.
Gold provided the fire works in the second game, leading off the fifth inning with a drive over the left field fence for her second home run of the season and a 4-0 Swarthmore lead. With two RBIs on the day, Gold increased her team to 29 while maintaining a tie atop the Centennial with Emily Trainor of McDaniel.
Perez was a perfect 2-for-2 in the second game, scoring a run while Sendelsky added a double and an RBI.
Procacci drew four walks on the day, giving her 35 base on balls for the season. That ties the Centennial record she set in 2005 and gives her 101 walks in 131 games (.771 bb/g). Procacci is now tied with Mandy Carnes from Muskingum and Kris Malone from Aurora in third place in Division III history. For Procacci, her 1.00 bb/g ratio in 2006 is top five in the country, her 0.29 hit by pitch per game ratio is in the top 15, and her .523 on-base percentage is tops in the Centennial.
Swarthmore travels to McDaniel College on Sunday, April 30 to take on the Green Terror in a 1:00 p.m. doubleheader in the final two games on the 2006 Centennial slate.