CLAREMONT, Calif. -
Madison Gonzalez singled to right center in the bottom of the seventh inning, and pinch-runner
Ana Federico came home from third when the throw got away as the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps softball team earned a 5-4 win over second-ranked Case Western in the nightcap of a doubleheader on Sunday afternoon.
Case Western took the opening game by the same 5-4 score, as the teams split the twinbill. CMS moves to 7-2 on the season with the split, while Case Western moves to 6-2, after a 40-9 season a year ago when it reached the Division III World Series.
The Athenas trailed 4-2 going into the bottom of the fifth, but pushed across single runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh for the comeback win.
Brooke Goodman cut the deficit to 4-3 in the bottom of the fifth when she hit a fly ball into shallow center that bounced and hit off the body of diving center fielder Nylah Durham. The ball rolled back towards the right-field line for a double, allowing
Giselle Lai to race all the way around from first.
Kaili Aqui, who had a pair of spectacular diving catches in left field on the day, led off the bottom of the sixth with a single, moved up to two bases on two groundouts, and came home an on error to tie the score 4-4.
Hannah Adams left runners stranded on third with less than two outs in the fifth and sixth, and was able to retire the side in order in the seventh.
Rachel Sapirstein drew a one-out walk in the seventh, and Federico came on to run. Goodman was then hit by a pitch to put two runners on with one out, and Gonzalez hit a single into right center. Federico held at third, but the throw home bounced away, and she alertly raced home with the go-ahead run.
Aqui and Goodman were each 2-for-3 in the nightcap, with Goodman tallying two RBI.
Sapirstein was 3-for-3 with three RBI in the opening game, but Case Western scored a pair of unearned runs in the top of the seventh. Sapirstein singled with one out and an error kept the door open, but the Spartans were able to escape with the 5-4 win.
CMS will be back in action on Friday when it takes on Bethel (Minn.) for a doubleheader at Athena Field.
