Late inning rallies again played a factor as the Chestnut Hill college women's softball team completed their first doubleheader sweep of the season, defeating Lincoln University 7-6 and 5-4 Tuesday afternoon at the Lincoln University softball complex.

The Griffins improve to 5-26 with the sweep while the Lions fall to 11-16.

In the opening game, the Griffins trailed 6-2 going into their final at-bat.  Chestnut Hill batted around, scoring five runs on three hits to take a 7-6 lead.  An error, a hit batter and a walk loaded the bases for the Griffins with nobody out and after a force out at the plate produced the first out, Steph Tonuci beat out an infield hit to score Ashley Soto with the first run of the inning.  Two batters later, Peyton Baldwin drove in two more runs with a single to left field, cutting Lincoln's lead to one 6-5 and putting two runners in scoring position as Baldwin took second on the throw home. A wild pitch scored Tonuci with the tying run and Baldwin scored the go-ahead and eventual winning run on Lucianna Boggi's single.

The Lions put a runner on in their final at-bat before winning pitcher Abbie Alt-Ambriz and her battery mate Boggi, shut the door with a strike them out, throw them out double play as the LU runner was caught stealing to end the game.

Alt-Ambriz (2-7) earned her second win of the season with a complete game effort.  The freshman thrower struck out four and walked just one batter. Alt-Ambriz also drove in the Griffins' second run with a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning.  Baldwin finished the game with three hits while Mianna Lopez Del Haro had two, including an RBI double in the fifth inning, putting the Griffins on the scoreboard.

In game two, the Griffins jumped out to a 4-2 lead with the help of a three-run fourth inning and three Lincoln errors in the frame.  The Lions came back to tie the score at 4-4 in the bottom of the fourth with a pair of runs.

The score remained tied until the sixth inning when Maya Kemper singled with two out and Lopez Del Haro followed with a walk.  Samantha Toro then singled through the left side as Kemper advanced and scored the go-ahead run following a throwing error by the LU shortstop.

Now holding a 5-4 lead, Griffins' pitcher Jordan Tavarez bore down the final two innings.  After hitting a batter to start the sixth, Tavarez induced three straight fly ball outs to end the threat and retired the side in order on three groundouts in the seventh inning to end the game and pick up her first win of the season.

Tavarez (1-8) allowed just two earned runs and seven hits while striking out one and walking one batter. Tonuci, Kemper and Skyler Cunningham had two hits apiece.  Macey Matlock had an RBI groundout to score the Griffins' first run in the second inning.

The softball team returns to action on Friday, April 7, 2023, when the host Bloomfield university at the CHC Softball Field.  First pitch is set for 12:00 p.m.