ELIZABETHTOWN, PA – The York College softball squad swept Elizabethtown College in a non-conference doubleheader on a wet and windy Wednesday afternoon in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania.

The Spartans won game one 3-2 and completed the sweep with a 9-7 win in the nightcap. York improves to 21-15 overall while the Blue Jays fall to 13-19 with the pair of losses.

In the opener, the Green and White got on the board first in the top of the second inning. Freshman Ashley Werner (York, Pa./Dallastown) singled up the middle to score a pair with two outs in the frame. She would go on to steal second but would be left there as the Spartans had to settle for the two runs.

York pushed the lead to 3-0 in the third as Katie Maloney (Aston, Pa./Sun Valley) was hit by a pitch, moved to second on a Carleigh Ruleman (Owings, Md./Northern) single and scored when Vanessa Mendez (Lititz, Pa./Warwick) singled. York would have a chance to add to the lead but Blue Jay starter Laura Tomasetti wiggled out of the jam as she held York to just one run in the frame.

The Blue Jays finally reached York starter Courtney Martin (Willow Street, Pa./Lampeter Strasburg) for a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth. The uprising was aided by a York error as both runs were unearned.

York would load the bases in the top of the seventh but would be unable to add to their lead but Martin got three outs in the bottom of the seventh to close out the game one win.

Martin picked up the victory as she allowed two unearned runs on seven hits with two strikeouts and no walks. Tomasetti suffered the loss as she allowed three runs on nine hits with five strikeouts and two walks as she falls to 7-8.

Maloney and Ruleman led the Spartan offense with two hits each. Werner was 1-for-3 with two RBI.

Kirstin Blass, Tomasetti, and Keli Krause each had two hits for the Blue Jays. Krause and Kaylee Werner each had an RBI for Elizabethtown.

Game two proved to be a wild, high scoring affair. York sprinted out to a 3-0 lead through two and a half innings of play. Elizabethtown got on the board in the bottom of the third but York answered to take a 4-1 lead. The Blue Jays plated three runs in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game at four. The teams exchanged runs in the fifth inning as the game was tied at five.

The Spartans got the go ahead run in the top of the sixth courtesy of a Jayci Cristaudo (Mechanicsville, Md./Chopticon) RBI single down the right field line. Martin shut the Blue Jays down in the sixth, allowing the Spartan offense to go back to work in the seventh. Freshman Megan Martin (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill East) pushed the York lead to 6-4 with a solo homer to left. After a ground out, Miranda Shandy (Bowie, Md./Annapolis Area Christian) blasted a solo homer to center for her first collegiate home run. The Spartans got a third run in the inning to take a 9-5 lead heading to the bottom of the seventh. The Blue Jays cut the Spartan lead to two thanks to two more Spartan errors but Courtney Martin would close out it for her second win of the day.

Martin earned the win in relief as she allowed six runs, five earned, on seven hits in four innings of work. She is now 16-11. Ashley Hullihan absorbed the loss as she allowed nine runs, six earned, on 13 hits with two walks and a strikeout in 6.1 innings of work. Hullihan is now 1-5 for the year.

York had four home runs in the victory as Maloney, Mendez, Shandy and Megan Martin went deep in the win. Courtney Martin banged out three hits with two runs scored in the win. Mendez, Martin and Shandy each had two RBIs in the win while Maloney and Cristaudo each had two hits and an RBI.

Jessica White led Elizabethtown with three hits, two RBI and two runs scored. Becky Becher and Jordan Nowacki each contributed a pair of hits to the Blue Jay offense.

The Spartans return to action on Thursday afternoon when they travel to McDaniel to face the Green Terror in a non-conference twin bill. Game one is scheduled for a 3:30 pm start.

Courtney Martin photo courtesy of Joe Rodgers