WESTMINSTER, Md. – McDaniel walked off winners in game one and carried that momentum to a sweep of Gettysburg in Centennial Conference (CC) softball action on Saturday.

The Green Terror (20-14, 9-5 CC) took the opener 1-0 before completing the sweep 10-7 to force a three-way tie with the Bullets (22-10, 9-5 CC) and Haverford for second place, one game behind Washington entering the final week of the regular season. McDaniel virtually locked up its fifth straight playoff berth and can secure the top seed with a sweep of the Shorewomen in next Saturday's finale.

Junior Olivia Kipe (Manchester, Md./Manchester Valley) picked up her 100th career hit with the game-winning knock in the opener. Lindsey Miller (Gettysburg, Pa./New Oxford) went 4-for-4 in the nightcap and added a pair of defensive gems in center field to lead McDaniel.

Steph Zengel led Gettysburg with five hits in the twinbill.

Both teams squandered opportunities to score through the first six-and-half innings. Ally Galati (Milford, Pa./Cornwall Central) led off the bottom of the seventh with a single up the middle before Payton Lewis (Valrico, Fla./Durant) dropped down a one-out bunt to move the speedster into scoring position.

Kipe followed with a ball back up the middle, allowing Galati to score without a throw for the 1-0 victory.

Galati and Carly Deichman (Easton, Pa./Freedom) each had two hits in game one. Valerie Lamb (Miami Gardens, Fla./Miramar) went the distance in the circle with five strike outs, scattering seven hits in the shutout.

Game two was much more as expected between the top two offenses in the conference. After a double play ended the top of the first, Miller led off the home half of the frame with a single through the right side.

Lewis followed with a double before Jamie Weisser (Chappaqua, N.Y./Horace Greeley) roped a one-out, two-run single to the gap.

Deichman and Tayler Hishon (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas) drew back-to-back walks to load the bases for Taylor Fletcher (Linden, Va./Fauquier), who nearly had a grand slam but the ball hooked just foul before being hit by a pitch to make it a 3-0 game.

A Caitlin Justice (Stuart, Fla./Jensen Beach) two-run single pushed the lead to 5-0 and chase the Bullet starter before Miller added an RBI double to cap a six-run frame.

A Kipe walk, wild pitch and Deichman single stretched the lead to 7-0 in the second.

Five hits, including a two-run Meghan Hisgen single, in the third trimmed the deficit to 7-4.

After Miller and Lewis drew walks to lead off the bottom of the frame, Weisser laced a one-out single to score both runners and push the lead to 9-4.

A Mykaela Twitchell one-out home run in the fifth cut the deficit back to four.

Miller led off the bottom of the fifth with a single before stealing second, moving to third on a Lewis infield single and scoring on a Kipe groundout to get the run back.

Doubles by Meredith Taylor and Sam Misurell to lead off the sixth made it a 10-6 game before Zengel led off the seventh with a home run to make it a three-run game.

Lamb gave up a ball to the gap after coming on in relief but Miller threw a bullet to nail Wendy Folfas trying to stretch it into a double. After a walk, Lamb got a pair of groundouts to pick up the save.

Weisser threw five innings in game two to improve to 4-2 in the circle. Lewis and Weisser had two hits each.

McDaniel returns to action at home against Eastern Mennonite on Sunday. The first game of the doubleheader begins at 1:30 p.m.

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