Bullets Softball against Mary Washington. (Photo David Sinclair/Gettysburg College Athletics)
By Joe Curry, Staff Writer
The Bullets’ softball team took home two wins against Mary Washington at home this past Friday in a non-conference doubleheader.
Game 1
In the first game of the day, Gettysburg started strong with a first-inning lead over the Eagles. Mary Washington went scoreless while the Bullets loaded the bases with one out. Lauren O’Leary ʼ25 came into score off of a pop fly from Julia Smith ʼ24. In the bottom half of the second, Anika Pelekis ʼ27 hit a triple, and later in the inning, Bailey Quinn ʼ24 hit a sacrifice fly to send her home.
At the top of the third, Mary Washington came back strong to score three runs and put themselves ahead by one before Gettysburg went back to bat. In the bottom of the third, a double from O’Leary, a walk for Morgan DeFreitas ʼ26, and a walk for Smith loaded the bases once again.
Carlie Goldstein ʼ25 hit a single that advanced the runners, but O’learey was called out at the plate. In the next at-bat, Clare Sottile ʼ26 hit another single that brought DeFreitas and Smith home, which put the Bullets up by three with a score of 6-3.
Gettysburg held Mary Washington to their three runs for the remainder of the game, as the Bullets put on an impressive scoring performance to finish up the first game of the day. Three immediate outs in the fourth and fifth innings kept the Eagles from landing on base again until the sixth inning, which also saw three quick outs.
Scores from Audrey Bergan ʼ27, Sottile, Smith, and two from Giovanna Komst ʼ24 gave the Bullets a commanding 11-3 lead in the bottom of the fifth, forcing the game to end in an eight-run mercy rule win.
Game 2
The second game of the day was much tighter. Both the Bullets and the Eagles went scoreless in the first four innings. The squads held each other to five or fewer plays in each inning before forcing a change of sides.
Gettysburg made their strong surge in the bottom of the fifth. With two outs and Pelekis on third and Quinn on second, a Komst hit scored Pelekis for the first run of the game.
Goldstein had the difference maker on the day. She launched a three-run homer with Quinn and Pelekis on base to advance the Bullets to a 4-0 lead with two innings remaining.
Mary Washingon struck back in the sixth inning though. With two outs, the Eagles scored two runs in consecutive plays. They were also able to keep the Bullets from scoring in the bottom of the sixth and kept the game within two entering the final inning. However, three quick outs brought the game to an end and gave the Bullets their second victory of the day with a score of 4-2.
The softball team’s next game will be on Saturday, March 30th, where they take on Swarthmore in another doubleheader at home. It will be their Centennial Conference opener.
