CLERMONT, Fla. – The Wesleyan softball team plated 10 unanswered runs to roll past Carthage 10-5 in game one before holding their nerve and plating a walk-off run in the 7^th to defeat Nichols 3-2 in game two, securing a Wednesday morning sweep in Florida. The Cardinals (3-1) are winners of three straight heading into an off day on Thursday on their Spring Break trip.
 
Opening against the Carthage Firebirds, Wesleyan jumped out to a 10-0 lead and never looked back, earning a 10-5 win in the morning game. Wesleyan put the pressure on right from the start as Rebecca Cassel-Siskind '26 doubled in Molly Lennon '26 and Whitney Gigante '28 followed with an RBI double to drive in Cassel-Siskind. With the bases loaded and two outs, Ella DeCrescenzo '27 and Nicole Celi '27 both walked in a run to make it 4-0 Cardinals.
 
The Cardinals tacked on three more in the 3^rd as a throwing error on a Waverly Smart '27 bunt saw Jordynn Killion '27 score all the way from first. Jacelyn Lees '28 helped her own cause with an RBI groundout to short before Celi singled to left and after an error by the left fielder, DeCrescenzo scored all the way from first on the play.
 
It was 10-0 Wesleyan as Smart ropped an RBI single to right, Lees smacked an RBI single to left, and Smart scored on a passed ball in the 4^th.
 
Lees, who had retired the first nine Carthage batters in-order, ran into trouble in the bottom of the 4^th when the Firebirds plated two runs on three hits. Carthage made it a 10-5 game with three runs in the 5^th but the inning could have been much worse for Wesleyan as the Firebirds had the bases loaded before an inning-ending fly out from Peyton Kryza.
 
Lees did the rest, retiring six of the next seven batters in-order, to finish off the 10-5 win. Lees earned her first win of the season as the sophomore went 6.1 innings, allowing four hits and two runs with no walks and two strikeouts.
 
Smart went 2-for-3 at the plate with one walk, three runs scored, and one RBI. Gigante went 2-for-4 with one double, one run, and one RBI.
 
After a short break and change of fields, Wesleyan took on Nichols in the second game of Wednesday's doubleheader. The Bison plated one run in the 1^st as Sydney Hicks led off with a walk then came around after stealing second and third then scoring on a wild pitch. DeCrescenzo escaped further damage, striking out the final two batters of the inning, stranding runners on second and first.
 
A heads up baserunning play in the 2^nd led to the tying run as Killion led off with a walk, then alertly stole second with the Nichols defense on their heels. She then went to third as a throwing error from Molly Medor landed in center field. Smart came through in the next at-bat with a sacrifice fly out to right.
 
DeCrescenzo continued to show resolve in the circle, stranding two Bison in scoring position in the 3^rd, two more in the 4^th, one in the 5^th, and two more in the 6^th inning as she kept the Nichols offense at-bay in this one.
 
DeCrescenzo helped her own cause in the 4^th as Gigante singled through the right side and Killion singled to left to lead off the inning. Smart sacrificed both runners into scoring position for DeCrescenzo who lifted a sacrifice fly out to right to score pinch runner Leila Campbell '29 from third, making it 2-1 Wesleyan.
 
After the Cardinals missed a chance to add to their lead, leaving the bases loaded in the bottom of the 6^th, Nichols tied the score in the 7^th. The bases were loaded for pinch hitter Michaela Fortier who drew a five-pitch walk to make it 2-2. Still with the bases loaded and one out, Gigante bore down and got Bailey Littlefield to strike out swinging before ending the inning with a Samantha Lombardi pop out to second.
 
In their first at-bats since losing the lead, Wesleyan started with a perfectly placed bunt single to third from Foley, followed by Lennon who bunt singled herself to the catcher. With the winning run on second base, Cassel-Siskind laid down a third straight bunt and this time Nichols had a throwing error on the throw to first base, allowing Foley to score the game-winning walk-off run from second.
 
DeCrescenzo threw a career-high six innings in the circle, allowing just two runs with four strikeouts. Gigante got the win as she escaped the bases loaded jam in the 7^th.
 
Foley went 2-for-3 at the plate for her first two career hits, as the sophomore also scored the game-winning run. Lennon went 2-for-4 against Nichols.
 
Wesleyan is back in action on Friday with games against Hiram (9 AM) and Swarthmore (11:30 AM).