Morgan Rentzheimer	Shannon Stricker	Jacqueline DeSarro
Kaitlyn O'Sullivan	Shanna Schaeffer	Stephanie Romano

Box score (game one)
Box score (game two)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The University of Scranton softball team used solid pitching and timely hitting to win the opening game of its Landmark Conference series against Catholic on Sunday, 5-2. But the Royals had to settle for a split after dropping the second game, 7-3, in a doubleheader played at the Washington Nationals Youth Baseball Academy.

Freshman Morgan Rentzheimer (Laurys Station, Pa./Parkland) tossed a complete game in the opener, allowing two runs on seven hits and a walk while striking out two to improve to 3-2 on the season.

Scranton (6-4, 1-1 Landmark) rallied from a 2-0 deficit after three innings by scoring three times in the top of the fourth. Sophomores Shannon Stricker (Morrisville, Pa./Conwell Egan) and Jacqueline DeSarro (Bethlehem, Pa./Bethlehem Catholic) opened the frame with back-to-back singles and then moved up a base on a passed ball. Sophomore Kaitlin O'Sullivan (Bensalem, Pa./Nazareth Academy) then reached first while driving in Stricker on a fielder's choice, and O'Sullivan and DeSarro later scored on a dropped pop up to give Scranton a 3-2 lead.

The Royals added to their lead with a run in the fifth when DeSarro drove home Stricker with a two-out RBI double. Scranton added an insurance run in the top of the seventh on a pinch-hit solo home run by freshman Shanna Schaeffer (Hopewell Junction, N.Y./John Jay).

Senior second baseman Stephanie Romano (Oak Ridge, N.J./West Milford) and DeSarro each finished the opener with two hits, and Stricker scored twice.

In the second game, the Royals struck first with a run in the top of the first when Romano singled with one out, moved to third on a single by Stricker and scored when Stricker stole second and the throw went into center field.

But Catholic (8-6, 1-1 Landmark) scored three times in the bottom of the first despite managing just one hit in the inning. The Royals tied the game with a pair of runs in the top of the second when freshman Kaitlyn Pittsman (Jefferson Township, Pa./North Pocono) walked with one out and wound up scoring on a wild pitch. Sophomore Jenna Snyder (Thornwood, N.Y./Westlake), who had been hit by a pitch, later scored when the Cardinals dropped another pop up.

Catholic retook the lead in the bottom of the second with a run, then tacked on single runs in the third, fourth and sixth innings while holding the Royals scoreless the rest of the way to forge the split.

Scranton will return to action on Wednesday, April 1, when the Royals host Penn State-Hazleton at 6 p.m. at the Jessup Youth Sports Complex.

--ROYALS--