YORK, Pa. – The York College softball team picked up its first Capital Athletic Conference wins of the season with a doubleheader sweep of Wesley College by scores of 3-1 and 8-2 on Sunday afternoon at Spartan Stadium.

York (13-7, 2-2 CAC) got on the board first with a run in the bottom of the first inning. Jayci Cristaudo (Mechanicsville, Md. / Chopticon) led off with a double through the left side and then stole third, but an errant throw by the catcher allowed her to advance home for the game's first run.

The Spartans picked up another run in the second inning as Carleigh Ruleman (Owings, Md. / Northern) led off with a home run. The right-handed first baseman stayed with a high pitch and elevated it deep up over the left field fence for her team-leading fifth long ball of the season.

Wesley (16-5, 0-2) threatened in the fifth with runners on second and third and only one out recorded. Freshman pitcher Courtney Martin (Willow Street, Pa. / Lampeter-Strasburg) managed to get her team out of the jam as she forced the Wolverines into a pop up and a ground out for the final two outs of the inning.

York tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth when Ruleman recorded her second RBI of the game with a double down the right field line to score Emily Glatts (Brookhaven, Pa. / Padua Academy) from second who led off the inning with a walk.

The Wolverines got on the board in the top of the seventh and made a strong push to take lead as they loaded the bases with their first three batters. York caught a break as Wesley grounded a ball back to Courtney Martin who flipped it home to Vanessa Mendez (Lititz, Pa. / Warwick) for the first out. Wesley's next batter managed to get the ball past the pitcher and out to shortstop where Katie Maloney (Aston, Pa. / Sun Valley) fielded the ball and threw to first, surrendering a run in the process, but also recording the second out. Courtney Martin put an end to Wesley's scoring chances as she recorded a strikeout to end the game.

Courtney Martin earned the win for game one as she went seven innings, surrendering one run on seven hits with three strikeouts and two walks.

Wesley's Lindsay Siok was credited for the loss and falls to 7-3 as she tossed six innings, giving up three runs on five hits with four strikeouts and one walk.

The Spartans relied on the long ball again in game two, scoring the first run of the ball game with a big blast to center by Ashley Lechner (Willow Street, Pa. / Lampeter-Strasburg). Lechner's two-run homer drove in Taylor Hensley (don, Md. / Bel Air) who reached on single up the middle.

Wesley managed to tie the game after getting runs in both the fourth and fifth innings. However, York took back the lead in the bottom of the fifth as the Spartans once again went yard, this time off the bat of their lead-off hitter, Cristaudo.

York kept the momentum flowing in the fifth, scoring another run to take a 4-2 lead on an RBI single by Glatts that scored Maloney from second.

The Spartans put the clamps down in the sixth, scoring four more runs to take an 8-2 lead. Cristaudo once again came through as her single to left center scored Hensley and Lechner, and moved Courtney Martin to second. Maloney singled up the middle and loaded the bases, which set the table for Glatts, who drew a walk to score Courtney Martin from third. Cristaudo made it all the way around from first to score the eighth and final run for York on the next batter by a wild pitch by Wesley.

Courtney Martin picked up the win in game two and improves to 12-6 as she threw four innings in relief, surrendering one run on three hits with one walk.

Melissa Jurkiewicz (Oak Ridge, N.J. / Jefferson Township) started the game for York and went three innings, giving up one run on five hits with one strikeout.

Lily Engel was credited with the loss for Wesley and falls to 8-2 as she threw eight and two-thirds innings, giving up four runs on eight hits with one walk. 

The Spartans return to the diamond on Wednesday as they travel up I-83 for a CAC doubleheader contest against PSU-Harrisburg with game one scheduled to start at 3:00 p.m.

Jayci Cristaudo photo courtesy of Joe Rodgers