Garnet Get Riled Up in Chester
CHESTER, Pa. -- Garnet hurler Kathryn Riley extended her scoreless streak, tossing a two-hitter in the second game of a non-conference doubleheader at Widener Tuesday night.
Swarthmore (9-8) fell 7-2 in the first game as the Pride (10-8) posted a five-run second inning with the aid of three Garnet miscues.
Widener used a home run by senior Rachel O’Leary and solid pitching by junior Kim Dougherty (4-4) to take the first game. It was the fourth round-tripper of O’Leary’s career while Dougherty yielded just one earned run on nine Garnet hits to pick up her fourth victory in five decisions.
Swarthmore senior outfielder Kristin Caspar (Briarcliff Manor, N.Y. / Briarcliff) posted two hits and score once while junior catcher Michele Perch (Kinnelon, N.J. / Kinnelon) also posted two hits, including a double, while scoring the other Garnet run. Senior infielder Christine Sendlesky (Edison, N.J. / John Stevens) also accounted for two hits and stole three bases.
As the temperatures dropped in the second game, Riley (5-3) heated up. The junior right-hander (left) did not allow a runner to reach third base over 7.0 innings, striking out six batters without a walk on the way to her fourth shutout of the season (15th of her career). Riley (Dagsboro, Del. / Indian River) is on a tear of late, having not walked a batter in 19.1 innings (top of seventh in a 4-0 win over Elizabethtown on March 19) while failing to surrender a run in 14.1 frames.
Swarthmore broke open a scoreless game in the fourth, pushing across a pair of runs after Sendelsky led off the inning with her second double of the game. Freshman shortstop Elizabeth Cushing (Middletown, Del. / Padua Academy) singled and stole second with Perch drawing a base on balls to load up the bags. Sophomore Krista Schreirer (Norristown, Pa. / Germantown Academy) plated Sendelsky with an RBI groundout and freshman Marley Spector (Woodmere, N.Y. / George W. Hewlett) picked up her first collegiate RBI with a single to center.
The Garnet added an insurance run in the top of the seventh as Cushing doubled home Zoe Hendrickson ’11 (Strafford, N.H. / Coe-Brown Northwood Academy).
Swarthmore returns to Clothier Field this Saturday to open up the Centennial schedule. The Garnet hit the ground running, taking on the mighty Red Devils from Dickinson College (9-7).