Tartans Split Doubleheader at NYU

(STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.) - The Carnegie Mellon University softball team split a doubleheader with New York University on Saturday, April 2, and are now 13-9 for the year and 4-3 in the University Athletic Association (UAA). The Tartans won game one, 6-2, behind the pitching of senior Scotty McGee (Huntington Beach, Calif. / Huntington Beach) and 11 hits. The Violets were able to hold on for an 8-6 win in game two.

McGee went the distance in her second straight start in UAA play, giving up eight hits with four strikeouts, to move to 3-1 for the year with a 1.97 ERA.

Three players collected two hits for the Tartans with freshman Allie Rome (West Windsor, N.J. / West Windsor Plainsboro South) and junior Piper Johnson (Riverside, Calif. / Martin Luther King) each hitting a double. Senior Emily Song (Mount Arlington, N.J. / Roxbury) had two RBIs on a single to right center in the second inning before sophomore Erika Heffernen (Moorestown, N.J. / Moorestown) singled up the middle to plate the eventual winning run in freshman Maya Goodwin (Camden, N.J. / Leap Academy). Earlier in the inning, Goodwin pinch ran for junior Izzy Bermudez (Austin, Texas / Dripping Springs) and went from first to third on a sacrifice bunt by junior Emily Finger (Aurora, Ill. / Metea Valley).

The pinch hitters for the Tartans made impact plays with senior Gwen Delacruz (Laguna Nigel, Calif. / Aliso Niguel) getting a pinch-hit single in the fifth inning that scored a run while senior Summer Faille (Thousand Oaks, Calif. / Westlake) entered in the sixth and hit a sacrifice fly, her second of the season.

NYU took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning in game two before the Tartans answered with three runs, all with two outs, in their half of the second inning. Finger singled to center field to score Bermudez from second and Heffernen hit another single that scored two to tie the game at 3-3.

After NYU took a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the second, the Tartans scored another two runs in the third inning to take their first lead at 5-4. Bermudez and senior Audrey Pederson (Bedford, N.H. / Bedford) each had an RBI single in the inning.

The lead didn't last long for the Tartans who left three runners on in the third, as the Violets scored four in the fourth to take an 8-5 advantage.

The Tartans scored another run with two outs in the fifth inning when Heffernen singled through the right side and were on the edge of extending the game in the top of the seventh with the bases loaded. The Violets were able to escape with the win when Song grounded into a fielder's choice to end the game.

The Tartans and Violets are scheduled to meet for the final game of the series on Sunday, April 3 at 11:00 a.m.