The Muhlenberg softball team dropped a pair of low-scoring games and was eliminated from the Centennial Conference playoffs.
The Mules (32-11) fell to Swarthmore, 3-1, and to Haverford, 1-0 in an elimination game, and will await word on an NCAA at-large bid. They entered the day ranked 30th overall in the Division III selection index and 10th among at-large candidates (not including teams that were leading their conferences and in line to get automatic bids). The NCAA will award 22 at-large bids, to be announced on Monday, May 11.
Swarthmore, ranked 22nd in the Division III coaches poll and the top seed in the playoffs, scored once in the first and twice in the second to take a quick 3-0 lead in Muhlenberg's first game of the day. From that point on, Mule pitchers allowed only one run on eight hits in 11 innings, but the offense remained quiet.
Freshman
Eden Clark worked out of a bases-loaded, nobody-out jam in the third by getting two foul pops and a strikeout and permitted only one Garnet runner to reach base in the last three innings. She finished with six strikeouts, setting a record for freshmen with 133 on the season - the second-highest total in program history.
Muhlenberg finally got on the board in the sixth on a bases-loaded sacrifice fly by sophomore
Hailey Godin and put a runner on first in the sixth, but the game ended with the tying run at bat.
The Mules were nearly the victim of a perfect game in the elimination contest. The Haverford pitcher retired the first 19 batters before Godin singled with one out in the bottom of the seventh. Junior
Lillie Teague and senior
Scooter Hulsen both walked on 3-2 pitches to load the bases before the game ended on a fly ball to right.
Junior
Josie Krieman was brilliant in defeat for Muhlenberg, pitching a five-hitter and fanning three against a Ford lineup that plated 11 runs in its first game of the day. She allowed the lone run of the game in the fifth and was helped out later in the inning when Godin threw out a runner trying to score from second on a single to center.
Pictured above, freshman Kineta Bradley puts on the tag.
Haverford will have to defeat Swarthmore twice on Sunday to claim the championship.
