Bermudez Homers Twice, Bruneau Extends Hitting Steak in Sweep at Franciscan

(STEUBENVILLE, Ohio) - Sophomore Isabel Bermudez (Austin, Texas / Dripping Springs) homered twice on the day with sophomore Tessa Bruneau (Edgewater Park, N.J. / Holy Cross Prep) extending her hitting streak to a program-best 10 games, as the Carnegie Mellon University softball team won a pair of games at Franciscan University on Thursday, April 15. The Tartans took game one by an 18-0 score in five innings while tying a program-best for hits with 23. They then rallied in game two to score five in the seventh inning to win 8-4 to move their season record to 10-5-1.

Game 1 - Tarans 18 Franciscan 0 - 5 innings

Junior Emily Song (Mount Arlington, N.J. / Roxbury) was 4-for-4 with three doubles, sophomore Piper Johnson (Riverside, Calif. / Martin Luther King) had four hits in five at bats, including a double and a triple, and junior Megan Hu (Katy, Texas / Seven Lakes) had three hits and five RBIs to lead the Tartans. Bermudez hit her third home run of the year and singled in two other at bats, while junior Audrey Pederson (Bedford, N.H. / Bedford) had three singles in the win. Junior Scotty McGee (Huntington Beach, Calif. / Huntington Beach) recorded her fifth straight victory and third shutout of the season while striking out 10 batters and scattering four hits.

The Tartans started the game with three doubles from the first four batters and five hits in the inning to score three runs. McGee then struckout the side before the Tartans added three more runs in the second with McGee again striking out three batters. The third inning saw the Tartans plate five runs on five hits with Johnson hitting a triple to score Hu for the fifth run of the inning. Bermudez led off the fourth with a home run to dead center field, marking a new season-best for the Tartans. With the Tartans up 12-0 in the fourth inning, junior Audra Scheinman () pinch hit for Song and singled in two runs. Looking to hit for the cycle, Johnson came to the plate with two outs and a runner on second. Her blast to right center ended up falling just short of the wall for a single. Freshman Addy Sewack (Needham, Mass. / Noble and Greenough) singled in a pinch hitting appearance and Bermudez singled in Johnson for a 17-0 lead. Johnson came to the plate again in the fifth inning, this time reaching on a fielder's choice to shortstop while recording her fourth RBI of the game.

Game 2 - Tartans 8 Franciscan 4

Down 4-3 heading into the seventh inning, the Tartans rallied to score five runs and then recorded three outs in four at bats for their third sweep of the season.

In the seventh, Scheinman led off with a single to center field and then stole second. Freshman Kiera Boucher (Ridgewood, N.J. / Ridgewood) then singled to right field to push Scheinman across the plate for the game-tying run. An error by the Franciscan defense led to the eventual winning run after junior Megan Holquist (Ellicott City, Md. / Mount Hebron) singled. Sophomore Emily Finger (Aurora, Ill. / Metea Valley), Bermudez, and senior Brittany Pierce (Darien, Conn. / Darien) recorded the final three RBIs with Finger registering a single to left field, Bermudez a double to right field, and Pierce a single to shortstop.

In the sixth inning, Bermudez homered for the second time on the day while freshman Amanda Smith (New Cumberland, Pa. / Trinity) entered the game to pitch for junior Gwen Delacruz (Laguna Nigel, Calif. / Aliso Niguel) and stranded a runner on third after a sacrifice bunt and two strikeouts.

For the game, Bermudez and junior Io Jette-Kouri (Pasadena, Calif. / Westridge) recorded two hits.

The Tartans will next host Geneva College on Tuesday, April 20 with the doubleheader beginning at 3:30 p.m.