Timely hits by batters in three big innings and clutch outs by pitchers in both games added up to a doubleheader sweep by the Muhlenberg softball team at Ursinus.

The Mules (8-10, 2-2) came from behind in both games, winning the opener 8-6 and the nightcap 5-4.

Muhlenberg trailed 2-0 after two innings of the first game before knocking out the reigning Centennial Conference pitcher of the week - who came in with a 1.11 ERA - with a five-run third. Junior Kristy Selby capped the big frame with a two-run single.

The Bears (10-8, 2-4) plated three runs in the bottom of the third to tie the game at 5-5, but the Mules scored three of their own in the fourth. Senior Karissa Astrella had an RBI single, her second of the game, in the inning, and Muhlenberg took advantage of three Ursinus errors.

Freshman Sophie Chong, who came on in relief in the fourth, worked two scoreless innings before running into trouble in the sixth. Ursinus had one run in and the bases loaded with nobody out before Chong (pictured above) escaped further damage by getting two straight forceouts at the plate on ground balls to Astrella at second base. She finished off the inning with a fly ball to right.

Senior Hayley Peterson, making her first appearance of the season, saved Chong's first career win by pitching a scoreless seventh. The Bears put the potential tying runs on base before Peterson retired the side on a fly ball to right.

Freshman Ariana Feliziani was 2-for-2 with a pair of runs scored.

The nightcap was tied 1-1 before Muhlenberg scored three in the sixth on RBI singles by Selby, senior Amelia Shelley and junior Allyson Sweeney. The Mules added what proved to be an important insurance run in the seventh when senior Hanna Caiola led off with a walk and eventually scored on a first-and-third steal play.

Senior Haley Fedak allowed only one run through the first six innings. In the third, she worked out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam by striking out consecutive hitters, and she recorded another one of her seven strikeouts with runners on second and third and one out in the fifth.

In the seventh, however, the Bears loaded the bases with two outs and closed to within a run on a bases-clearing triple. With the tying run on third, Fedak nailed down her sixth win of the season, and the sweep, with a ground ball to third.

Selby went 3-for-4 in the nightcap, extending her hitting streak to 11 games and raising her season average to .390. Shelley and Sweeney each added a pair of hits.