Swarthmore, Pa. - Swarthmore College used a four-run third inning and limited Gettysburg to just two hits, defeating the Bullets 5-0 in an elimination game at the Centennial Conference softball championships on Sunday at Clothier Field.
 
The top-seeded Garnet (28-5) advanced to face second-seeded Muhlenberg College (21-19) in Sunday afternoon's championship game.
 
The teams combined for three walks through the first two innings before Swarthmore's bats came alive in the top of the third inning, scoring four runs on four hits to open up a 4-0 advantage.
 
The Garnet opened the scoring with an RBI double, followed by a run-scoring triple. Gettysburg got the second out of the inning on a foul out, but following a walk, Kate Hart connected on a two-run double to give Swarthmore the four-run cushion.
 
In the visitor's fifth, the Garnet put runners on the corners with one out before a wild pitch allowed Swarthmore's fifth run to come home.
 
Freshman Lauren O'Leary (Manasquan, N.J./Jackson Memorial) led off the bottom of the fifth with a double to center, and sophomore Allegra DeCandia (Basking Ridge, N.J./Ridge High School) followed with a single to right to put runners on the corners for Gettysburg (19-18) with nobody out.
 
However, the Garnet caught a pinch-runner attempting to steal before getting a popout and a flyout to escape the jam unscathed.
 
That was as close as the Bullets would come on the day as Swarthmore pitcher Gwen Glatz (10-2) finished off a complete game, two-hitter in which she also issued a pair of walks while striking out three batters.
 
The fifth-inning hits for O'Leary and DeCandia marked Gettysburg's only two hits, while sophomore Giovanna Komst (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry High School) drew a pair of walks in the loss.
 
Sophomore Megan Hughes (Woodstock, Md./Marriotts Ridge) tossed 4.1 innings in relief for Gettysburg and struck out six batters while yielding one run on six hits and one walk.
 
Freshman Paige Forry (Reading, Pa./Schuylkill Valley) started in the circle for the Bullets and held Swarthmore off the scoreboard. Junior Jasmin Herrera (Hollywood, Fla./Cooper City) (3-6) was charged with the loss after surrendering four runs on four hits and one walk while fanning two batters on the day.
 
Swarthmore held a 10-2 advantage in hits for the game while leaving nine runners on base. Gettysburg stranded three baserunners in the season-ending setback.