CARLISLE, Pa. – The Ursinus Softball team locked up a berth in the Centennial Conference Tournament with a road sweep of Dickinson today on Saturday afternoon in conference action.
 
 
With the sweep, the Bears improved to 24-11 overall and 9-2 in Centennial Conference action. It was their ninth-straight Centennial Conference win and fourth-straight Centennial Conference doubleheader sweep which also moved into the current first place spot in the conference standings. The 24 wins for the Bears are the most in a season since 2010 when the squad had 28 wins while locking up their first conference tournament berth since 2019. Meanwhile, the Red Devils fell to 20-12 overall and 9-3 in conference play.
 
 
 
GAME 1: Ursinus 4, Dickinson 1
The Red Devils opened the scoring in the bottom of the first with a sacrifice fly after loading the bases with one out. Ursinus countered with a sacrifice fly of their own in the top of the third courtesy of junior Madison Wilson to tie the game at one. Junior Sarah DiLello and sophomore Samantha Mallen led the inning off with back-to-back singles and advanced to second and third, respectively. First-year pitcher Christa Andrusiewicz then worked out of a first and second one-out situation in the bottom of the third. The Bears answered with the decisive blow of the contest in the top of the fourth by scoring three runs off four hits to go up 4-1. Senior Jordan Moore kept the inning alive with a double to right field to advance classmate Amanda Panati to third with two outs. DiLello then dropped a triple to right field to score the first two runs and give the Bears their first lead of the game. Mallen followed by sneaking an infield single to second base which scored Mallen. The runs were all Andrusiewicz needed from there as she scattered four hits in the final four frames to earn her 11th win of the season, currently tying her for the Centennial lead with Gettysburg's Paige Forry.
 


GAME 2: Ursinus 7, Dickinson 2
The teams each stranded runners in the first inning and the Bears took advantage of a dropped would-be third out in right field in the top of the second which scored two runs. Ursinus had runners on first and third with two outs and DiLello lifted a fly ball to right field that bounced off the Red Devil right fielder's glove which scored junior Sara Sullivan and Moore. The Bears then busted open the contest with five runs on five hits in the top of the sixth to go up 7-0. Senior Allyson Meakim was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and advanced to second on a ground out. Sullivan followed by roping a double to left field to score Meakim for the first run of the frame. First-year Kayla Carr singled to advance Sullivan to third and pinch runner Anna Mefford stole second in the next at-bat. With two outs, DiLello squeezed bunted Sullivan in from third while being safe at first for a single. Mallen then poked a single through the right side to score Mefford and later executed a perfect double steal with DiLello to score the sixth run. Wilson capped the inning by singling in Mallen for the seventh and final run. The Red Devils rallied for two runs in the bottom of the sixth to make it 7-2 before first-year Riley Coneeny escaped the jam after relieving sophomore Stephanie Wichman. Coneeny retired the Red Devils in order during the seventh to preserve the sweep.
 
 
Mallen went a combined 4-of-8 in the doubleheader and drove in two runs while stealing two bases in each game. She now leads the Centennial with 32 stolen bags. DiLello tallied three RBI's between the two games and three hits while scoring three runs. Carr went 2-of-4 from the plate in game two and Sullivan scored two runs plus driving in one. Andrusiewicz went the distance in game one while allowing one earned run on seven hits with a pair of strikeouts and walks. Wichman picked up her seventh win in game two after allowing two earned runs on five hits with also a pair of strikeouts and walks. Coneeny struck out one batter and allowed one hit in the final 1.2 innings she tossed in game two.  
 
 
The Bears return to action on Tuesday, April 25th as they will travel to face Haverford for a doubleheader starting at 3:00 p.m.