Women’s softball unfortunately ended its winning streak this past Wednesday with a loss to Coast Guard. Prior to Wednesday, the team’s streak had been extended to 12 games after sweeping Hamilton in a weekend three-game series. The Cardinals won both games of the doubleheader on Friday and a third on Saturday by the scores of 7-2, 7-3, and 3-2, respectively.

In the first game on Friday, the Cardinals opened the game forcefully, scoring two runs in the first inning. Jill Gately ’15 tripled to right field, knocking in Allee Beatty ’13 to put Wes on the board. Up next to bat, Alex Sarkowsky ’14 singled to bring Gately safely home and up the lead to 2-0.

The Continentals evened the score when they were next at bat, but the Cardinals got out of trouble once they replaced Laura Getchell ’14 with Su Pardo ’16 on the mound. Despite hitting a batter on her first throw, she was flawless for the rest of the inning and struck out three batters in a row to dispatch Hamilton with the bases loaded. Pardo only allowed four hits and struck out 13 over six scoreless innings.

Due to superb pitching, neither team was able to gain another run until the Cardinals were up to bat in the sixth inning. Wes broke the 2-2 stalemate with a double to left by Gigi Olson ’15, allowing Amy Lindland ’14 to score and putting the Cardinals ahead 3-2.

The Cardinals tacked four more runs in the seventh inning to up the score to 7-2. Beatty singled, stole second base, and then scored on an Ashley McLaren ’13 single to left field. Gately picked up two RBIs from her single to left field and brought home Tori Redding ’13 and McLaren. Matti Peters ’13 singled Gately home, which was the final run of the game before Wes walked away with a commanding win.

The back end of the doubleheader went much the same way as the front. Wesleyan jumped on top early, scoring four runs in the first two innings before pulling away with three more in the seventh. Though Hamilton managed three runs in the second game, the Cardinals walked away with another 7-3 victory.

The final game of the three-game series lacked the offensive output of the first two. Wesleyan was able to come back from an early 1-0 deficit to tie the game in the first inning and then pull ahead in the seventh. Pardo was stellar yet again, only allowing three hits and two runs in the entire game. She improved her pitching record to a perfect 6-0 and tallied nine strikeouts.

Riding high on the winning streak, the Cardinals faced the Coast Guard on Wednesday, April 3 in what would be their first loss since March 15 versus Hood College. Coast Guard smacked a pair of home runs in the 6th inning to overcome a 3-1 deficit and capture a 6-4 win over the Cardinals.

Despite the loss, key players like Beatty and Gately distinguished themselves with superb batting performances. Beatty had a pair of singles, two stolen bases, and two runs, and extended her hitting streak to all 18 games this season. Gately went three-for-three at the plate, and gave the Cardinals a 1-0 lead in the first with an RBI double to the fence in right-center field, bringing in McLaren. In the bottom of the fifth, Beatty got her second hit, stole second, and scored on a Redding single. Beatty leads Division III in runs scored, is ranked sixth nationally in stolen bases with 20 for 21 attempts, is tied for first in triples, and is in the top ten for her .515 batting average.

Unfortunately, the Coast Guard put up four runs in the sixth inning and built too much of a lead for the Cardinals to catch.

“I think this loss was a wake-up call for us to focus on Williams this weekend,” Sarkowsky said after the 6-4 loss to Coast Guard.

The Cardinals travel to Williamstown, Mass. this Friday, April 5 to play the Williams Ephs. Both teams return to Middletown on Saturday, April 6 for a doubleheader. The Cardinals enter the weekend with a 14-4 overall record and a 3-0 NESCAC West record.