GETTYSBURG, Pa. – The Gettysburg Softball team (14-12, 5-5) won a pair of pivotal Centennial Conference contests against Dickinson (9-20, 8-8) on Thursday afternoon at Bob Jones Field. The Bullets won a 3-2 marathon in 10 innings before taking down the Red Devils 9-1 in five innings in game two.
Junior
Olivia Moser (Robbinsville, N. J. / Robbinsville) paced the Gettysburg offense as she went 5-for-7 from the plate between the two games and drove in two runs in game two. Sophomore
Giovanna Komst (Londonderry, N. H. / Londonderry) went 4-of-6 from the plate in the two games, scoring three runs, and driving in four.
Komst got the Bullets going right away in the bottom of the first inning by putting them up 1-0 with a leadoff solo home run to centerfield. Sophomore
Allegra DeCandia (Basking Ridge, N.J./Ridge) extended the Bullets lead to 2-0 with a two-out double to left field which scored junior
Jess Campana (Brick, N. J. / Saint John Vianney) after she reached base on a single. Gettysburg had chances in both the third and fourth inning to further stretch its lead after putting multiple runners into scoring position with two outs, but they were unable to push more runs across. Freshman
Paige Forry (Reading, Pa. / Schuylkill Valley) retired the first 12 batters she faced before the Red Devils opened the fifth inning with back-to-back singles. After a sacrifice bunt moved the runners up a base, Dickinson cut the lead down to 2-1 with a single to left field. The Red Devils tied the game at two during the next at-bat when the lead runner on third scored by taking advantage of a throw to second base on a stolen base attempt.
The Red Devils loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the seventh following scoreless sixth inning, but Forry dug deep and forced a groundout to end the threat. Moser roped a double down the left field line with one out to give the Bullets a chance to end the game in regulation innings. However, a fly out and strike out pushed the game into extra innings. Each team did not advance a runner past first base until the Bullets put runners on first and second with one out. Unfortunately for Gettysburg, Moser was called out for leaving early and was followed by a pop up to extend the game into the 10th. Forry completed her third perfect extra inning in the top of the 10th and the Bullets took advantage of the momentum by winning the game after Komst hammered a single to right center with the bases loaded and two outs.
Forry earned the win in game one after valiantly pitching through the 10 innings and allowing two earned runs on four hits while striking out eight on 132 pitches.
Dickinson opened the scoring in game two by tallying back-to-back doubles with one out to go up 1-0. However just like she did in game one, Komst once again led off the bottom of the first with a home run to centerfield to tie the game at one. Gettysburg then pushed runners to second and third base and DeCandia put the Bullets in front with a sacrifice fly. Freshman
Elliana Hopple (Collegeville, Pa. / The Episcopal Academy) led the second inning off with a double and came around to score on a two-out double from Komst to give Gettysburg a 3-1 lead. The Bullets loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the third and pushed two runs across after Hopple singled to center along with a subsequent throwing error to extend the lead to 5-1. Gettysburg once again loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the fourth inning and used a bases loaded walk from sophomore Baily Quinn (Hanford, Calif. Robinson Secondary School) to push the lead out to 6-1. Hopple continued her strong second game by driving in a second run with an infield single to make it a 7-1 contest. Gettysburg enacted the run rule in the bottom of the fifth with a two-run single from Moser after loading the bases with no outs.
Forry earned her second win of the day after allowing one earned run on two hits with one strikeout in the full five innings. Hopple went a perfect 3-of-3 from the plate with two RBI's and one run scored while Campana went 3-for-4 with one run scored.
The Bullets return to action on Saturday, April 23rd as they will travel to face Washington College for a Centennial Conference doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.
