GRANTHAM, Pa. -- For the second straight day,
Kylee Schwind and
Hunter Schantz led the top-seeded Arcadia softball team to a 7-0 in the MAC Commonwealth Championships. The Knights snapped second-seeded Albright's 13-game win streak and moved on to Sunday's title game.
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Schwind, who tossed a three-hit shutout against Widener on Friday, nearly replicated the feat on Saturday. She yielded just four hits and a walk to the Lions and struck out eight to improve to 13-7 on the season. She has given up just two earned runs over her last seven starts and has five shutouts over that span. She also moved into third on the Knights' single-season strikeout list with 113 on the year.
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Schantz also nearly replicated her Friday performance (3-3, 1 HR, 2 RBIs) on Saturday, going 2 for 4 with another home run and two RBIs.
Jackie Bilotti added two hits in four at-bats, including a pair of triples, and
Kristin Cancelliere,
Alexis Burge and
Brooke Ward all had a pair of base hits. Ward scored twice and drove in two more.
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The Knights broke a scoreless tie in the third when Bilotti laced a two-out triple to right center that plated Ward for a 1-0 lead. With two outs in the fifth, Schantz blasted a line-drive home run to center that scored Bilotti and AU's lead grew to 3-0.
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Three runs were more than enough for Schwind, but the Knights piled on four runs in the sixth for good measure.
Julia Gessner led off with a single and moved to second on Mary Pay Murray's single to right. A sacrifice bunt moved each runner up a base, and Ward followed with a double to deep right center to make it 5-0.
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Cancelliere then singled to center and moved to second on the throw as Ward took third.
Alex DeStefano laid down a safety squeeze as Ward scored to make it 6-0, and Bilotti capped the scoring with a triple to center to score Cancelliere.
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The win pushes Arcadia into Sunday's title game, needing just a single win to clinch its first-ever MAC Commonwealth title and NCAA Tournament berth. Arcadia's opponent has yet to be determined as Albright will take on the winner of Widener and Lebanon Valley in Saturday's final game for the right to face the Knights. First pitch on Sunday is slated for 1 p.m., though weather looks to factor into the scheduling.
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