GLENSIDE, Pa. (March 23, 2016) – Junior pitcher Alexis Schengrund (Hillsborough, N.J.) hurled a one-hit shutout in the opener and senior Alie Alkins (Aston, Pa.) went 3-for-4 with four runs batted in during the nightcap as the Widener University softball team swept a Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth doubleheader against Arcadia on Wednesday evening. The Pride won the first game, 6-0, and took the nightcap by a 6-4 score.
 
Schengrund was nearly perfect in the opener and got all the help she would need when the Pride offense scored three times in the top of the fourth. Junior Bree VanReenen (Elkton, Md.) recorded a bases-loaded single to plate Alkins, who opened the inning with a hit, and sophomore Taylor Allen (Northeast, Md.) smashed a two-run single up the middle to put the visitors in control. Sophomore Katie Sterling (Middletown, Del.), senior Taylor Church (Glen Mills, Pa.) and sophomore Lauren DelRomano (Broomall, Pa.) each drove in insurance runs during the fifth and sixth frames to give the Pride the six-run win.
 
Widener's Schengrund fanned eight, did not issue a walk and fell just one play short of a perfect game en route to earning her sixth victory of the young season. Jackie Bilotti was the only Knight to reach base by singling up the middle and stealing second in the bottom of the fourth. Erin Wilson suffered the loss for Arcadia in the circle after surrendering six hits and five runs, which were all earned, while striking out four and issuing four walks.
 
For the second straight doubleheader, the nightcap was a seesaw battle between the teams before Widener eventually emerged with the victory. After an Alkins RBI single put the Pride on the board in the top of the third, Arcadia (7-5, MAC Commonwealth 0-2) took its first lead of the afternoon by scoring twice in the bottom of a messy fourth frame. Hess doubled down the line to score Sarah Gunia and tie the game before coming home on a passed ball a few plays later.
 
Alkins, however, helped break the game open by unleashing a two-run single to begin a four-run fifth inning for the visitors. Senior Heather Forward (Philadelphia, Pa.) helped extend the inning by finding a way to reach first off a throwing error by the catcher after swinging at strike three, scoring Alkins from third, and then came home a few plays later on a groundout by Allen to make it 5-2. The Pride then held off a comeback attempt by the Knights to earn the two-run victory and sweep.
 
Sophomore Katie Rabuck (Hegins, Pa.) earned her first collegiate victory in the circle for Widener. She gave up four hits and two runs, which were both earned over 3.2 innings of relief and also registered three strikeouts. Arcadia's Kayla Resh suffered the loss after giving up six runs and five hits, including three earned, in four innings of work.
 
Widener (9-3, MAC Commonwealth 4-2) hosts Swarthmore for a non-conference twinbill tomorrow afternoon at 4:00 p.m.