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BY EMILY BRYANT

In print | Published March 26, 2009 — Updated April 01, 2009 21:53

The Swarthmore Garnet softball team (9-8) was defeated by #8 SUNY-Cortland on Saturday but bounced back to sweep Penn State-Berks on Sunday at Clothier Field in two days of doubleheader action.

The Garnet had strong hitting from the quartet of Kristin Caspar ’09, Kathryn Riley ’09, Krista Scheier ’11 and Zoe Hendrickson ’11, but were not able to effectively stifle the ranked Red Dragons’ stingy offense and lost the contests 8-3 and 6-2, respectively.

On Sunday, Swarthmore emerged victorious against Berks from the first contest by a score of 7-1, and finished the Nittany Lions off in five innings, 10-0, in the second.

Strong at-bats from a slew of players propelled the Garnet to two convincing victories.

In the first contest, the momentum took off for the Garnet with a leadoff at-bat from Christine Sendelsky ’09. Elizabeth Cushing ’12 added a bunt, and Sendelsky was able to score off of a hit from catcher Michelle Perch ’10.

A single to left field in the fourth inning from Captain Lauren Walker ’09 was the catalyst for a five-run inning that all but clinched the win.

The Garnet also had four stolen bases in the inning, and Perch smashed a double to right field to bring in Sendelsky for a 6-1 Garnet lead. Sendelsky earned an RBI off of a single to right field, increasing the Garnet lead to six.

A solid pitching effort from Alexandra Zelaski ’09, who improved to 3-4 and only allowed one unearned run, completed what was a well-rounded effort for the Garnet.

During the second contest of the day, pitcher Riley shut down the Lions’ offense. She allowed only six hits throughout the day, tallying her third shutout of the season.

Meanwhile, the Swarthmore offense was at it again with doubles from Riley, Sendelsky and Walker that pushed the Garnet to a comfortable eight-run lead.

Walker attributed the victories to an increased amount of confidence among members of the team. “We have been coming to every game with more and more confidence. Our hitting has looked good, and we are looking to come off of these wins with momentum into our conference games,” she said.
The team also has the addition of three first-years, who have all been put to good use. Indeed, the presence of the trio of shortstop Elizabeth Cushing ’12, pitcher Marley Spector ’12 and outfielder Sasha Wijeyeratne ’12 hasn’t gone unnoticed.

“The freshmen are a great addition to our team,” Walker said of the newcomers. “They come out to every game with enthusiasm and are giving it their best. I think that they will grow as players throughout the season and really become a presence on the team.”

Wijeyeratne cites the building of experience as a theme of her time on the squad thus far. “We are all learning how to play together as a team,” she said.

“Our trip to North Carolina was a good experience because we got a number of games under our belt, and we are looking forward to a strong season,” she added.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, returning captains Riley, Sendelsky, Walker and Zelaski look to lead the team this season as Swarthmore works toward receiving a fourth consecutive Centennial Conference playoff bid.

Head coach Renee Clarke has set lofty goals for this season. One of them is to win the Conference Championship. Additionally, she is setting her sights on securing an NCAA tournament bid. In securing the team a tough early-season schedule, Clarke seeks to prepare the women for the many strong conference opponents that they will face throughout the next several weeks.

In 2008, the Garnet earned a berth in the Centennial Conference playoff tournament by virtue of their fourth-place conference ranking of 10-6.

The fourth seed in the four-team tournament, Swarthmore was elminated after consecutive losses to top seed Ursinus and second seed Haverford by scores of 3-4 and 3-7, respectively.

It wasn’t over yet, however.

The Garnet went on to receive their first postseason bid – and first postseason victory – in the E.C.A.C. Southern Region championships after the conference tournament last year.

Soon, they will know where they stand and if they will be in position to build on their post-season appearances from 2008.

In a final non-conference double header last night, the Garnet split with Widener in Chester, dropping the first game by score of 7-2 before regrouping to shutout the Pride in a 3-0 win in the second game.

In the immediate future, Swarthmore will enter the Centennial Conference fray when they take on Dickinson (9-7, 0-2 CC), with whom they split last year, on March 28, and Ursinus, the defending conference champion, on March 31.

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