BALTIMORE, MD – The Notre Dame of Maryland softball team (10-12, 7-7 CSAC) added two wins to its resume on Monday, defeating Valley Forge (4-18, 0-12 CSAC) to move three games ahead of Cairn (3-23, 3-9 CSAC)  in the CSAC standings. 

 Game One (NDMU, 10-0)

• Notre Dame jumped out to a 2-0 lead after loading the bases in the first. Bethani Newbold made contact for a single to bring in Jessie Leatherwood and Maci Lopez.
• Leatherwood walked the first batter she faced but went on to strike out the next two. She had a strong outing on the mound, striking out nine total through five innings. 
• Kayla Grube blasted a double to lead off the second. The Gators loaded the baseses after an error from Valley Forge and a single from Leatherwood.
• RBI leader, Kendall Snyder walked with the bases loaded advance Grube to home plate. 
• NDMU went on to score two more runs in the inning off-fielding errors from the Patriots.  
• Up 6-0 in the third, Leatherwood knocked in a double to bring in Grube for the second time and the Gators added two more runs off errors to close out the inning.
• Valley Forge first hit came in the bottom of the third but Leatherwood kept the Patriots bats quite in rout to a complete game shutout. .    
• With no hits and just one inning to play, Lopez extended her hit-streak to 18 games with an RBI double in the top of the fifth.

Game Two (NDMU, 17-5)

• The Gators hot bats did not let up in game two. Lopez started the ballgame adding on to her hit streak with a single down center-field. 
• After consecutive walks to load the bases, Newbold jumped on a pitch for a deep double to drive in two base runners.
• During the next at-bat, Ciarra Bockstie grounded out but drove in two more runs for Notre Dame to go up 4-0.
• In the second, Miranda Burton blasted a two-RBI double to bring in Lopez and Candace Forgach-Aguilar.
• Notre Dame added five runs in the third, highlighted by another two-RBI double from Burton with two outs.
• The Gators added six more runs in the final two innings to secure the sweep,
• Madison Zielke, Burton, Grube, and Bockstie each had two hits in the win. 
• Newbold, Forgach-Aguilar, Lopez, and Leatherwood all had three runs.
• Snyder got the win for her second on the season. 

UP NEXT
Notre Dame (Md.) will wrap up the season with a doubleheader at Wilson on Wednesday, April 27 at 3 p.m. Watch and follow live stats at Notredamegators.com. Follow the softball program on Twitter and Instagram (@NDMGatorSports) and catch all things Gators on the Gators Network.