CINCINNATI, Ohio – The Earlham College softball team scored a sweep over Mount St. Joseph University to lock in a spot in the HCAC Tournament on Sunday evening.
GAME ONE: EARLHAM 5 MSJ 3
Tatum Rickert threw four no-hit innings, and did not allow a single earned run in 5.2 innings of work for her 10th win of the season.
Morgan Cooksey came in for a four-out save, and scored four strikeouts in a perfect 1.1 innings.
Alana Smith led the Quakers at the plate with two hits, one home run, three RBI and one run scored.
Shelby Hill also had two hits with one run scored.
Hill led off the bottom of the second inning with a single to right field, and came around on the first home run of Smith's career after a deep shot to straight-away center.
Keely Hubbard then went back-to-back with Smith with her own homer to center field for a 3-0 Quaker lead.
The Lions scored an unearned run on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fourth inning after an error put the leadoff runner on base.
After the Lions scored their first hit of the game in the bottom of the fifth inning,
Bo Shelton cut down the momentum with a solo homer to right field. Smith then hit an RBI-double to left field for a 5-1 lead.
Rickert retired the first two batters of the bottom of the sixth inning, but the third Lion reached on a fielding error. After the error, MSJ scored two runs on three hits, and Cooksey was called upon in the save situation with runners on second and third and two outs.
GAME TWO: EARLHAM 3 MSJ 2
Cooksey threw a complete game with five hits and two earned runs while scoring six strikeouts.
Stump went 2-3 with two doubles and two RBI to lead the Quakers at the plate.
Macie Ferguson hit a leadoff triple to begin the game, and came home on a sacrifice fly by Shelton to give the Quakers a 1-0 lead.
The Lions tied the game in the bottom of the second inning after a leadoff double.
Emmerie Stump put the Quakers back in charge with a two-run double with two outs in the top of the fifth for a 3-1 lead. MSJ then scored a run on two hits in the bottom of the sixth inning. With two runners on and only one out, MSJ hit an RBI single to left field, but a good rally by the Quakers got the trailing runner out at third base, and Cooksey scored the final out with a strikeout to escape the jam.
The Lions had runners on second and third with one out in the bottom of the seventh, but Cooksey induced an easy pop-up, and recorded her 10th strikeout of the night to cap off the win.
The Quakers punched their ticket to the HCAC Tournament with an 11-5 conference record, and currently hold the third seed in the standings. The Lions will play Transylvania tomorrow, with implications for the No.1 seed, and the right to host the tournament.
Earlham is slated to take on Transylvania University for a doubleheader on Tuesday evening with a 5 pm start time.
