Emmitsburg, Md. (April 2, 2022)--Strong pitching and timely hitting led Mount St. Mary's to a doubleheader sweep over Central Connecticut at Our Lady of the Meadows Field on Saturday afternoon.  The sweep pushes the Mount's win streak to seven games, the longest streak by the Mountaineers since a school-record 21-game streak in 1987.  The Mount won the opening game, 4-2, before capturing game two, 4-1.

In the opening game, Abigayle Perry snapped a 2-2 tie with a two-run single to left in the bottom of the fourth inning for the winning runs.  Olivia Murphy came on in relief in the top of the fifth and retired the final eight batters she faced to seal the victory.

The Mount (14-14, 6-2 NEC) scored single runs in the first and second innings to take a 2-0 advantage.  In the first, Perry walked, stole second, advanced to third on a fly out and scored when Tori Bowles reached on an error.  In the second, Maggie Kane walked, stole second base, and scored on a Mariah Godde base hit.

Central Connecticut (3-26, 1-7 NEC) evened the score with single runs in the top of the third and top of the fourth innings.  In the third, Paige Stringer brought home Meg Gorman with an RBI double.  In the fourth, Katie Master doubled, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and score on an Amanda Rodgers sacrifice fly.

The Mount gained the lead with two runs in the bottom of the fourth.  Vanessa Martin walked to open the inning and promptly stole second base.  Kane followed with a bunt single to put runners at the corners, and she stole second to put the pair of runners in scoring position.  Zoe Wilcox was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and Perry came through with a single to left to score both Martin and Kane to make it 4-2.

Elizabeth King went 2-for-3 with a double for the Mount while Kane was 1-for-2 with two runs scored and a pair of stolen bases.  Starting pitcher Amanda Berkley picked up the win to improve to 6-5 on the year.  Berkley allowed two runs while striking out four in four innings of work.  Murphy allowed just one hit while striking out a pair in three innings to earn her first collegiate save.

In the second game, Murphy tossed a complete game, allowing just one run and five hits to lead the Mount to the win. 

Central Connecticut had its best chance to score in the top of the first inning.  Meg Dugas, who reached on a single, tried to score from first on a Stringer hit to center, but was thrown out at the plate on a nice relay throw from Gilliano.  The Mount then took the lead in the bottom of the first.  Perry reached on a bunt single and moved to second on an errant throw by the catcher.  She moved to third on a flyout, and scored on a Tori Bowles infield single.  The Mount made it 2-0 in the bottom of the third when Gilliano singled to center, stole second base, and scored on a Kaia Bonshock double to right field.  Gilliano's steal of second was her 21st of the season, tying the Mount's single-season record set by Nikki Wisniewski in 1999.

The Mount added a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth.  Bowles reached on an error, and pinch runner Zoe Truxon stole second base.  King walked and Julia Vincent came on to run for her.  After a fielder's choice put runners at the corners, Kane legged out a bunt single with Martin moving to third to bring home Truxon.  Wilcox then squeezed home Martin for the second run in the inning.

Murphy lost her shutout bid due to a bit of bad luck in the top of the seventh.  Murphy had retired 15 batters in a row entering the seventh, but allowed a Howard lead-off double.  She retired stringer on a lineout and Bri Walker on a fly out to right that advanced pinch runner Hannah French to third with two outs.  Murphy got Matison Piripavel to loft a fly ball to center in what looked to be the final out, but the ball was lost in the sun, allowing French to score and Pirapavel to reach second with a double.  Murphy regrouped to strike out the final batter for the complete-game victory.

Murphy improves to 5-2 on the season while lowering her ERA to 2.50.  The Mount stole seven bases on the day and now have 51 steals as a team in 28 games this year.

The Mount and Central Connecticut close out the three-game series with a single game tomorrow at noon at the Mount's Our Lady of the Meadows Field.