COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus Softball team kept its season alive with a pair of wins on Saturday afternoon over Dickinson and Washington College in the Centennial Conference Tournament at the Snell Softball Field. The Bears dispatched the Red Devils 9-1 in six innings before edging the Shorewomen 2-1 to become one of the final two teams in the tournament.
 
 
 
With the wins, the Bears improved to 29-13 overall to secure their highest win total in a single-season since winning 32 during their most recent Centennial Championship winning season in 2008. They also advanced to the championship round for the first time since that very same 2008 season which was also held at Snell Field. Ursinus now must defeat Swarthmore twice tomorrow to claim the Centennial Championship. The Red Devils and Shorewomen wrapped up their seasons with records of 23-15 and 20-19-1, respectively.
 
 
Ursinus 9, Dickinson 1 (6 innings)
The Red Devils led off the game with a double and stolen base to set up a runner on third base with no outs. However, first-year pitcher Christa Andrusiewicz calmly worked her way out of the jam with no damage behind a brilliant play to get the lead runner trapped between third and home on a groundout to the circle. The Bears set the tone in the bottom of the first when junior Sara Sullivan cleared the bases with a base hit and advanced all the way to third after the Red Devils left fielder let the ball get under her glove and roll to the wall. Ursinus loaded the bases initially with no outs before two foul outs set the stage for Sullivan to put the Bears up 3-0. The Bears continued to pour it on in the bottom of the second by scoring four runs off five hits to go up 7-0. Junior Sarah DiLello reached first with a bunt after the first out was recorded and stole second. Sophomore Samantha Mallen also got on with an infield single and stole her 39th base of the season to tie the Centennial Conference single-season record. Junior Madison Wilson knocked in DiLello with a single to make it 4-0 before senior Allyson Meakim singled to score two more runs with two outs to extend the advantage to 6-0. Senior Amanda Panati capped the inning with a double to right center to score Meakim. The Red Devils got on the board with a run in the top of the third but were limited to that only run despite having five hits in the inning. From there, Andrusiewicz allowed just one hit in the next three innings and the Bears enacted the run rule by scoring two runs in the bottom of the sixth. Three-straight singles brought in the first run before Meakim drew a bases loaded walk to end the game and give the Bears their first postseason win since 2011.
 
 
Ursinus 2, Washington College 1
Swarthmore defeated the Shorewomen 3-1 after Ursinus took care of Dickinson to set up the third and final tournament matchup of the day. Andrusiewicz got the start once again and snuck out of trouble once again in the top of the first, this time a first and third situation with one out. After the first six Bears were retired to open the game, first-year Kayla Carr roped a double to right field to lead off the bottom of the third. DiLello followed two batters later with a triple to center that put Ursinus on the board at 1-0. Mallen then hit a deep grounder to second that gave DiLello plenty of time to score and extend the lead to 2-0. The Shorewomen had a batter reach base in each inning of the game but continued to struggle with RISP after stranding 14 runners against the Garnet in the previous contest that day. Washington College had runners on second and third with one out in the top of the fifth before a ground out and fly out ended the threat. The Shorewomen threatened again by loading the bases with one out in the top of the sixth but came up empty handed again behind a brilliant diving catch by Panati on a popup in the middle of the infield and unassisted force out by Sullivan at third. Washington College loaded the bases one last time with one out in the top of the seventh and finally broke through on what turned into a sacrifice fly to make it 2-1. However, a soft pop up to Sullivan at third ended the game and sent the Bears to Sunday.
 
 
 
Mallen, Wilson, and DiLello all recorded three hits in game one while Meakim went 2-of-3 with three RBI's and Sullivan added two RBI's. The Bears also swiped five bags against the Red Devils with Mallen and Wilson each getting two and DiLello with the other. DiLello was the lone Bear with multiple hits against the Shorewomen after going 2-of-2 with one RBI and a run scored. Andrusiewicz tossed all 13 innings in the circle for the Bears in both games and earned both wins to move her total up to 14, the most in a single-season for Ursinus since Kaitlyn Willis had 14 in 2017. She allowed just two earned runs in her 13 innings of work and combined to strike out five batters with one walk.
 
 
 
The Bears now move on to Sunday, May 7th and will battle Swarthmore for the Centennial Conference title with the first game going off at 12:00 p.m. If the Bears win the first game, the teams will play the decisive eighth game of the tournament 30 minutes after the completion of that contest.