The Muhlenberg softball team won one short game and one long game to even its Centennial Conference record with a doubleheader sweep at Franklin &Marshall.

The Mules (11-15, 4-4) took the opener, 11-1, in a game that was ended after six innings due to the eight-run rule, and needed 11 innings and one lightning delay to take the nightcap, 5-2.

Spectacular performances by senior Cora Bridgers and sophomore Gillian Zack highlighted the second game.

Bridgers (pictured above) went the distance, pitching a career-high 11 innings and tying her career high with 12 strikeouts. It was the first time since 2000 that a Muhlenberg pitcher went at least 10 innings and fanned at least 10. She faced the minimum 18 batters through six innings and was one out away from a shutout before allowing a game-tying double in the seventh. Bridgers set the Diplomats down without a run through the first three extra innings, striking out the side in the eighth, before allowing an unearned run in the bottom of the 11th. 

The Mules got a runner to third in both the ninth and the 10th but couldn't break the 1-1 tie until Zack lined a pitch over the fence in left leading off the 11th for a two-run homer. Zack was responsible for Muhlenberg's first run of the game with a solo homer in the first, thus becoming the ninth player in program history to hit two home runs in a game.  

Following Zack's thunder, and a double by freshman Kaya Mahy, the lightning came, forcing the teams off the field. After play resumed, the Mules added two insurance runs on RBI singles by Bridgers and senior Kristin Oberg.

Freshman Ava Calabrese contributed to the 11th-inning rally with one of her three hits in the game.

The opener wasn't nearly as dramatic, with Muhlenberg scoring twice in the top of the first and pulling away with three three-run innings. Senior Sarah Karmazyn struck the biggest blow, a three-run blast in the sixth for her second career home run. 

Oberg hit a two-run single in the third and Zack added a two-run double in the fifth, one of her five hits in the twinbill. Senior Genna Cicchetti went 3-for-5 with an RBI.

Sophomore Raya Kunes earned the win in the opener, holding the Diplomats (15-15, 2-8) to three hits and one run in her five-inning stint. She also had a pair of singles at the plate.