Riley Sets Down Quakers
GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Swarthmore senior shortstop Katherine Gold drove in three runs and sophomore Kathryn Riley struck out 10 batters as the Swarthmore softball team completed its six-game North Carolina road trip by splitting a double header at Guilford College Thursday afternoon.
The Garnet (2-4) fell 5-4 in game one and then came back in the second affair to win 7-1.
Guilford (8-5-1) scored three unearned runs off Swarthmore starter Alexandra Zelaski (Middleburg Heights, Ohio /. Midpark) in the first inning of game one and then added another pair of runs via the long ball in the fourth.
The Garnet bats came alive in the top of the fifth, picking up four runs on four hits. Junior outfielder Lauren Walker (Fallston, Mary. / Hotchkiss School) led off with a single and moved up on an error by the Guilford leftfielder. Riley reached on a walk and two batters later freshman Maggie Vizcarra (Long Beach, Calif. / Long Beach) doubled home Walker. Freshman Melissa Emmerson (Ringwood, N.J. / Lakeland Reg.) cracked a two-out double later in the inning, driving in Riley (Dagsboro, Del. / Indian River) and Vizcarra. Junior Kristin Caspar (Briarcliff Manor, N.Y. / Briarcliff) capped the inning with an RBI single up the middle.
Swarthmore was kept of the board in the final two frames as Guilford picked up the victory.
The Garnet pounced on the Guilford starting pitcher in game two. Walker got the game started with her third hit of the day, a single to center, and came around to score on Gold’s two-run single. Junior Christine Sendelsky (Edison, N.J. / John Stevens), who was 1 for 4 with two runs and an RBI in the second game, also scored on the play. Gold had advanced to second on a play at the plate, eventually scored after consecutive wild pitches by the Guilford pitcher.
Guilford generated an unearned run off Riley in the bottom of the first, but could only muster three hits of the sophomore the rest of the way. Riley (2-1) allowed just five hits in seven innings, fanning a season-high 10 batters while walking just one.
Swarthmore made it 4-1 in the second as freshman catcher Kira Kern (Newtown, Pa. / Council Rock North) scored on two-out single by Sendelsky. The Garnet would add two more runs in the fourth as Kern walked and stole second before scoring as Sendelsky reached on an error. The junior captain came around to score on a single to left by Gold.
Gold, a senior captain, scored the final run of the game in the seventh. She drew a lead-off walk, moved up on a single by Emmerson and scored on a double by freshman Lauren Marczi (Chester, N.J. / West Morris).
Swarthmore heads north to Maryland this weekend, playing four games at the Sea Gull Tournament on March 15 and 16. The Garnet open play against Wilson at 9:00 a.m.