CHESTER, Pa. (Apr. 13, 2017) – Junior Katie Rabuck (Hegins, Pa.) threw a no-hitter in the opener and freshman Jamie Gosselin (Abington, Pa.) hit a walk-off grand slam in the nightcap as the Widener University softball team swept a doubleheader against Albright in thrilling fashion on Thursday evening. The Pride won by scores of 5-0 and 6-4.
 
Widener's Rabuck and Albright's Riley Gerenda were locked in a pitcher's duel during the opener until the Pride broke loose in the bottom of the fifth. After stealing second and third, senior Ally Horvath came home for the game's first run when the Lions attempted to catch her in a rundown between second and third. With two runners still on base, junior Katie Sterling (Middletown, Del.) then sent a shot over the fence in left to pad the Widener lead. The hosts tacked on another run in the sixth for additional insurance when Horvath singled in freshman Carli Benozich (Drexel Hill, Pa.).
 
Rabuck earned the victory and improved to 8-3 at the time by throwing her first career no-hitter. She struck out nine and only allowed one Lion batter to reach base when she Regina Milburn was hit by a pitch in the top of the first. Gerenda was tagged with the loss by surrendering five hits and four runs, which were all earned, while registering four strikeouts and issuing four walks.
 
Albright (9-11, MAC Commonwealth 4-6) got on the board first in the nightcap and took a 2-0 lead in the second by capitalizing on a pair of Pride errors. Widener, however, started to climb back and sliced the deficit in half when Gosselin hit an RBI double off the top of the fence in center field. Benozich then cut another two-run deficit down to one by homering to left.
 
Even though the visitors moved ahead by two when Kelly Cembrale hit an RBI single in the top of the sixth, Widener continued to battle and would not go away. Trailing by two runs with one out in the bottom of the seventh, Benozich drew a walk and senior Nicole Burt (Staten Island, N.Y.) sliced a single to left to get the offense going. Horvath then found a hole through the right side to load the bases and set the stage for Gosselin, who provided the heroics by blasting a walk-off grand slam and her first career home run to complete the sweep for the Pride.
 
Rabuck, who entered the game in the sixth inning, picked up her second win of the day in the circle and moved ahead to 9-3 this spring. She gave up one hit and recorded a strikeout in one and one-thirds innings of relief to extend her scoreless streak to more than 26 consecutive frames. Gerenda was tacked with another loss for yielding eight hits and six runs, which were all earned, while going to the distance in the circle.
 
Widener (19-7, MAC Commonwealth 8-2) continues its homestand when it hosts Penn State Brandywine for a twinbill on Monday, Apr. 17 at 4:00 p.m.