Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score

LANCASTER, Pa. – The top two offenses in the Centennial Conference continued their homer-happy seasons by combining for five more as Gettysburg and Franklin & Marshall split their doubleheader meeting on Thursday.

Gettysburg (17-15, 7-7 CC), which leads the conference with 19 home runs, connected on three home runs on the day, including a solo shot by senior Megan Lott that proved to be the difference in a 5-4 win in the opening game. Second in the conference with 17 homers, Franklin & Marshall (21-11-1, 7-5 CC) went deep twice with Caitlin Brust's grand slam leading to a 12-7 win in the finale.

Thursday's split leaves both Franklin & Marshall and Gettysburg clinging to their playoff hopes with two games remaining in the regular season. Muhlenberg College (18-15, 9-5 CC) holds the fourth and final spot for the CC Tournament, one-and-a-half games ahead of the Diplomats and two games in front of the Bullets. The Mules face front-runner Ursinus College (17-13, 10-3 CC) on Saturday, while Franklin & Marshall and Gettysburg tangle with Dickinson College (14-15, 10-4 CC) and McDaniel College (12-20, 4-10 CC), respectively.

Gettysburg put up single runs in each of its first four at bats to score a series-opening win for the first time in nearly two weeks. The squad received RBI singles from junior Adrienne Rahs and freshman Abby Ferguson before scoring on a fielder's choice and a wild pitch.

Franklin & Marshall picked up their first run on a home run in the fifth to cut the deficit to 4-1. Lott answered in the top of the next frame, knocking her fourth homer of the spring over the fence in left to regain a four-run advantage. The home run was the ninth of Lott's career, putting her fourth all-time in school history.

The Diplomats made it a game in the home half of the sixth with a pair of run-scoring singles and a sacrifice fly. The hosts came up short with some base-running mistakes as a runner left the base early to end the sixth and another runner was thrown out trying to advance to third in the seventh.

Rahs, Bay, and Lott each tallied a pair of base knocks for Gettysburg, while Ferguson plated a pair of runs. Junior Lanie Parr improved to 9-7 after allowing four runs on nine hits, while striking out six.

In the nightcap, one gigantic inning for the hosts led to the victory. Gettysburg opened on top with an RBI single by Ferguson in the first and a two-run double by freshman Maggie Maguire  in the third. Franklin & Marshall added a run in the third before exploding in the fourth. The Diplomats put 11 runs on the board on nine hits. The Bullets didn't aid their cause with two early errors, and the hosts capped the frame emphatically as Brust connected on her first home run of the spring with the bases packed.

Gettysburg tried to answer with three runs in the fifth on a single by Rahs and a two-run homer by Ferguson, her third of the season. Sophomore Sam Bader provided the final longball of the day, knocking a solo shot over the left-field fence in the sixth to become the eighth different Bullet to homer this spring.

Rahs and Ferguson added two more hits in the nightcap, while sophomore Joy Hallfors went 2-for-4 with two runs. For the day, Ferguson went 3-for-6 with five RBI, while Rahs was 4-for-8 with two RBI and two runs scored.

Gettysburg hosts McDaniel in its conference finale on Saturday, April 23, at 1 p.m.