Some members of the Muhlenberg softball team visited Magic Kingdom on their day off in Florida, and upon returning to the diamond, they continued their magic start to the season.
Freshman
Cora Bridgers earned a win and a save as the Mules defeated DeSales, 8-7, and Bridgewater, 3-1, to improve to 8-2. In the last 20 years, the team has compiled a better 10-game record only once (9-1 in 2013).
The Mules came from four runs down to win the first game, scoring twice in the bottom of the sixth to top their Lehigh Valley rivals. Freshman
Kristin Oberg began the winning rally with a single down the left-field line and stole second. After a walk to senior
Allyson Sweeney and a wild pitch, Oberg scored the tying run on a groundout by senior
Kristy Selby. Senior
Kristina Qualben followed with a single to right to bring home Sweeney with the winning run.
The top three hitters in the lineup - freshman
Sarah Karmazyn, Oberg and Sweeney - all scored two runs, with Karmazyn going 3-for-4. In addition to Qualben, juniors
Sydney Carey and
Sarah Schubert had a pair of hits.
Junior
Nicole Bergamo earned her second win, striking out three and allowing only one hit in two innings of relief. Sophomore
Talia Hawkins pitched a scoreless inning in her first career appearance.
Muhlenberg turned to Bridgers to close out the game in the seventh, and after walking the leadoff better, she struck out the next three batters to earn her first career save.
Bridgers returned to the circle a short time later for the Bridgewater game and pitched a one-hitter for her fifth consecutive complete-game win. The Eagles (9-3) scored their run without the benefit of a hit in the fifth and did not get their first hit until the sixth. Bridgers struck out four, including the last batter of the game, and got some defensive help from Karmazyn, who made a sensational diving catch of a foul pop in the third.
Karmazyn's single helped ignite the Mules' two-run third after freshman
Genna Cicchetti drew a leadoff walk. Sophomore pinch-runner
Nicole Atkins scored the first run on a double-steal play, and Sweeney singled in Karmazyn with two outs.
Qualben's double - her ninth extra-base hit of the season - was the key hit when Muhlenberg scored an insurance run in the sixth. Bridgers drove in the run herself with a groundout.
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