COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus softball team celebrated its senior day with a resounding senior day sweep of Dickinson on Saturday afternoon at the Snell Softball Field. The Bears took game one 7-3 before winning game two 9-3.
 
 
With the win, the Bears improved to 15-19 overall and 7-5 in Centennial Conference play which leaves them right in the heart of the Centennial Conference Tournament entering the final week of play. Meanwhile, the Red Devils fell to 10-17 overall and 7-5 in conference play.
 
 
Sophomore pitcher Christa Andrusiewicz worked through a 1-2-3 first inning in game one which set the stage for the Bears to jump on the Red Devils for four runs in the bottom half. After junior Samantha Mallen led the inning with a single, senior Maddie Solow ripped a triple to center field to make it 1-0. Sophomore Kayla Carr brought Solow in off a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0 before senior Sara Sullivan singled and stole two bases to set junior Rachel Hartman up to bring her home with a single. After Hartman stole second, junior Stephanie Wichman capped the inning with a two-out single to score Hartman and make it 4-0. Ursinus extended its lead to 6-0 in the bottom of the fourth behind a pair of two-out RBI singles from Mallen and Solow. Dickinson got on the board for two runs in the top of the fifth after Andrusiewicz retired the first 12 in order, but the Bears responded in the bottom half after senior Madison Wilson legged out an infield single to second with two outs. Dickinson loaded the bases with one out in the top of the sixth and cut the lead to 7-3 after a hit by pitch. However, Andrusiewicz got a strikeout and groundout to prevent further damage. Dickinson threatened again in the top of the seventh with runners at second and third on one out, but Andrusiewicz calmly induced a lineout and groundout to preserve the win. Andrusiewicz matched her career high with seven strikeouts and allowed three earned runs on six hits in the complete game seven innings.
 
 
Dickinson struck first in game two with a two-out single RBI before the Bears exploded for six runs in the bottom of the second. Sullivan walked to lead the inning and came around to score after an errant throw to third base after a bunt was laid down by Hartman. The bases became loaded for Mallen who ripped a single up the middle to score all three runs and make it 4-1. After Solow singled, Carr followed with one of her own to bring in the final two runs of the inning. Dickinson got a run back in the top of the third off a single before stranding a runner on third that kept the score at 6-2. The Red Devils cut into the lead further with a run in the top of the sixth and had runners on first and second with no outs. However, two force outs to third base ended the threat. The Bears responded with three runs in the bottom of the sixth to put a clamp on things at 9-3. Following a single and error, Solow snuck a single through the right side to score the first run. A groundout advanced runners to second and third before a wild pitch initially scored Mallen to make it 8-3. With heads up baserunning, Solow caught the Red Devils not looking by racing home and was called safe after the catcher dropped the throw back to the plate. Sophomore pitcher Riley Coneeny tossed a 1-2-3 seventh inning to close out the sweep.
 
 
Solow went a combined 5-of-8 from the plate with three RBIs and Mallen went 3-of-8 with four RBI's and three runs scored. Wilson went 2-of-3 with two runs scored and Wichman went a perfect 3-of-3 from the plate in game one with an RBI plus run scored. First-year pitcher Miranda McIlvaine earned the win in game two after allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits and struck out three.
 
 
The Bears return to action on Tuesday, April 23rd as they will host Haverford for its final regular season doubleheader starting at 3:00 p.m.