FREDERICK, Md. – After trailing by five in game two, the Gettysburg College softball team rallied back to defeat non-conference opponent Hood College 12-6 on Tuesday evening. The Bullets blanked the Blazers 3-0 in game one.
 
Senior Morgan Clauser (Columbus, N.J./Northern Burlington) allowed just four hits and struck out five in seven innings from the circle. The senior pitcher improves her record to 8-1 on the season.
 
Gettysburg (10-6) and Hood (4-12) both went three up, three down to open game one and only combined for three hits through four innings of play. Sophomore Brynn Griffith (Maple Glen, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) started the second inning with a single to right field and junior Rachel Julie (Elmsford, N.Y./Briarcliff) registered the second hit in the third for Gettysburg. The Bullets defensive unit kept the Blazers off the bases until the bottom of the third when Maddy Collins posted a double to left center.
 
The Orange and Blue finally connected in the top of the fifth inning off a triple from junior Taylor Doi (Foster City, Calif./San Mateo), who smashed the hit to right center, driving home junior Liz Cowell (Verona, N.J./Mount Saint Dominic) and sophomore Brooke Studnik (Miami, Fla./Dr. Michael M. Krop) for the 2-0 lead.
 
Hood's best chance at getting on the board came in the bottom of the sixth. After a foul out to first base, the Blazers put players on second and third with a walk followed by a double to right center, but the Bullets defense halted any chances as Studnik and Cowell tracked down the foul and fly out to close the inning.
 
A two-out triple by Julie in the seventh inning scored Doi for the final run of game one.
 
Doi went 2-for-3 with two RBI, run, and a triple with Julie also adding two hits, an RBI and a triple. Julie has accumulated six triples this season, collecting four in the last six games for the Bullets.   
 
In game two, Gettysburg finished with 12 runs, 16 hits, 10 RBI, and a home run.
 
The hosts took an early 5-0 lead after scoring five runs in the first inning, but that soon faded away as the Bullets fired back with the comeback.
 
Freshman pinch hitter Hannah Lindert (Long Valley, N.J./West Morris Central) notched a two-RBI single to left field, allowing senior Sophia Blasius (Ramsey, N.J./Ramsey) and Griffith to score to get Gettysburg within three.
 
The Blazers would only register one final tally in the bottom of the fifth as the Bullets exploded with the runs in the fourth and sixth inning.
 
With the bases loaded and only one out, a two-RBI single by sophomore Emily Colline (Bridgewater, N.J./Immaculata) to center field started the offensive wave for the Bullets in the fourth inning. Blasius and Cowell each tallied an RBI single as well to pull the Orange and Blue ahead 6-5.
 
A run in the fifth and five runs in the sixth secured the Bullets to victory. Doi stole home in the fifth to make it 7-5 while sophomore Shelby Baker (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington North) pounded her first career grand slam and junior Nicole Farese (Sayville, N.Y./Sayville) scored on a throwing error by the pitcher.
 
Doi went 4-for-6 with three runs with Julie and Lindert adding three hits each. Baker led the team with four RBI, while Lindert and Colline produced two.
 
Freshman pitcher Skylar Spinner (Montebello, N.Y./Suffern) registered the victory after allowing just one run, four hits, and struck out four.
 
Gettysburg hosts Lebanon Valley College on Thursday for a non-conference doubleheader at Bobby Jones Field. Game one is scheduled to start at 3 p.m.