Megan Zinn	Jennifer Sweeney	Sarah Stepnowski

SELINSGROVE, Pa. - Graduate student Megan Zinn (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan) matched The University of Scranton softball program's record for career hits on the afternoon, as the Royals finished off a four-game weekend sweep of Susquehanna with a pair of Landmark Conference victories (5-2, 6-5) on the road Sunday.

With the victories, Scranton moved to 12-2 overall and in the Landmark, while Susquehanna fell to 6-8 overall and in the Landmark.

Game One | Box Score

Similar to the first game of Saturday's doubleheader in Scranton with the River Hawks, the Royals used a late-inning rally to secure a Landmark weekend series victory.

Down 2-1 entering the top of the sixth, junior Heather Alich (Bath, Pa./Northampton Area) once again used a long ball to put Scranton ahead, as she decked a two-run home run with two outs to give the Royals a 3-2 lead. The home run, which was Alich's sixth of her career, came in the exact same inning as it did in game one on Saturday, as her three-run blast then was the difference in a 3-1 win for the Royals.

In the seventh, Scranton scored a pair of insurance runs to go up three, as freshman Jessica Stadler (Monmouth Junction, N.J./South Brunswick) scored on a Susquehanna error and senior Maggie Donnelly (New Hyde Park, N.Y./Our Lady of Mercy Academy) came home on a wild pitch. The three-run cushion was more than enough for senior Jennifer Sweeney (Wind Gap, Pa./Dumont) to work with in the bottom of the frame, as she finished off the win for Scranton in the pitching circle.

Overall, Donnelly was the only person in the Royals' line-up to have multiple hits in game one, as she went 2-for-3 with a run scored. In the circle, Sweeney moved to 7-1 on the year with another complete-game win, allowing just two runs on five hits in the victory.

Game Two | Box Score

Game two saw the Royals jump out to a lead, then hold on down the stretch to take a one-run win and finish off the weekend sweep of the River Hawks.

In the top of the first, Sweeney decked a two-run home run to give Scranton a 2-0 edge just like that. The homer was the fifth of the season for Sweeney and the 23rd of her career at Scranton, as she is now two home runs away from matching the school record in that category.

The top of the third saw Scranton extend the lead out to 4-0, as a triple by freshman Sarah Stepnowski (Monroe Twp., N.J./Monroe) scored Sweeney and graduate student Casey DeSarno (Wall Township, N.J./Wall). Then, after Susquehanna cut the Royals' lead in half to 4-2 in the bottom of the fourth, the Royals answered with two runs of their own in the top of the fifth.

There, Stepnowski had an RBI single, and sophomore Jaclyn Goodman (Robbinsville, N.J./Robbinsville) scored on a wild pitch, giving the Royals a 6-2 lead entering the bottom of the fifth inning. That last run scored by Goodman proved to be the difference in the game, as Susquehanna made a last-gasp comeback bid in the bottom of the seventh.

After scoring three runs off of Sweeney (who came in the game in the fifth in relief), the senior pitcher extinguished the River Hawks threat, as she recorded back-to-back outs with the tying run on base to sew up the sweep for Scranton.

Overall, Stepnowski had a big game two, going 2-for-3 with three RBI's, while Sweeney was 2-for-3 with two RBI's and two runs scored. Zinn, meanwhile, had a late single in the win, the 186th hit of her career at Scranton, as she now shared the all-time career hits record with Annie Zeleniak (2008-2011).

In the circle, senior Meaghan Dowdell (Parlin, N.J./Old Bridge) was the victor, moving to 5-1 on the year after allowing two runs in four innings of work. Sweeney earned the save (her first of the year) after tossing three innings in relief.

The University of Scranton softball team returns to action on Thursday, as they travel to 10th-ranked Moravian for the final two games of their Landmark Conference series with the Greyhounds. First pitch for game one is set for 3 p.m.

--ROYALS--