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Gwynedd Mercy 8, Cairn 6

BOX SCORE Game 1

Gwynedd Mercy 8, Cairn 3

BOX SCORE Game 2


GWYNEDD VALLEY, PA. -- The Griffin Softball Team took care of business on Sunday, winning a doubleheader over Cairn. Game one was an 8-6 win while game two was an 8-3 score.

In the first game, Gwynedd scored eight runs after three innings but had to hold on, including a bases loaded jam in the seventh, for the win.

The Highlanders crossed a unearned run in the first after a two-out error put a runner on and later tripled home for a 1-0 lead. However in the Griffins' first at-bat, they answered as Jessica Mower (Hatfield, Pa./North Penn) doubled in Jennifer Whalen (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan). Mower would later score on an error. MaryKate Ballerino (Hatboro, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) went deep, a two-run shot, for her first homer of the season.

In the second, Gwynedd had two on in scoring position, but did not convert. Ashley Zavatsky (Philadelphia, Pa./Little Flower) would hit a two-run single and score on a RBI triple from Tara Matteo (Springfield, Pa./Springfield). The next batter, Erin Pierson (Philadelphia, Pa./Little Flower) knocked in Matteo to give GMercyU an 8-1 lead.

Cairn looked to cut into the lead, scoring twice in the fifth and looked for more, but the Griffins were able to pull off a double play with the bases loaded to escape any more harm. In the sixth, a key error plus a two-run triple highlighted a three-run frame for the Highlanders to make it a two-run game.

Whalen worked out of a big spot in the seventh. With the bags full and one out, she was able to get a pop up and groundout to seal up game one.

Mower went 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles and a run scored.

In game two, the Griffins jumped out early once again, scoring three times in their first at-bat. Sophomore Nikki Canfield (Souderton, Pa./Souderton) hit her first career home run in the frame, a two-run blast down the left field line.

Cairn would get on the board in the third with a run and score twice in the fourth to tie the game at 3-3.

Gwynedd got the eventual go-ahead run in the bottom half of the fourth on an RBI single from Nicole Dombrowski (Philadelphia, Pa./Nazareth Academy). The team would tack on some insurance runs in the sixth as back-to-back RBI doubles from Mower and Canfield highlighted a four-run frame.

Whalen picked up her second win of the day on the mound as she entered in relief in the fourth for game two starter Michele Arechavala (Mt. Ephraim, N.J./Audubon). Whalen allowed just three hits with two K's in three-plus innings of work.

Mower finished 2-for-4 again with two runs and two RBIs. Canfield was 2-for-4 and tied a career-high with RBI's.

Gwynedd Mercy will resume their suspended second game of their DH at Cabrini on Wednesday at 4 p.m. Cabrini led 4-3 in the third last week when inclement weather stepped in.