BETHLEHEM, PA – A three-run rally in the fourth was the only scoring output for Susquehanna softball Friday in their opening-round Landmark Tournament matchup against Catholic. The Cardinals opened with a two-run first, then took three in the fourth and five more in the fifth towards a 10-3 decision. The River Hawks will play Scranton in the elimination game Saturday at 12 noon, with the winner playing the game after against the loser of the Catholic-Moravian championship bracket matchup.

Amanda Amerman took the start for the River Hawks, retiring her first batter on a flyout to right. This was followed by four consecutive walks to draw in Catholic's first run. Susquehanna retired the next two batters, with just a sacrifice fly accounting for the second run of the inning.

Brianna Jones entered the pitching circle to start the second, shutting down Catholic the next two innings on seven batters faced. The River Hawks appeared to have a jolt in the bottom of the second when Morgan Henry tripled to left. The next batter, Hailey Kaba, attempted a squeeze play, with the third baseman Sarah Spaeth throwing her out at first, then second baseman Hailee Weiss throwing down to the plate to get Henry out at the plate to end the inning and stave off SU's threat. The River Hawks had two on in the third at first and second with one out, only for the next two batters to get retired.

Catholic broke its silence with three runs in the top of the fourth. With two on and one out, Weiss dropped a bunt, which catcher Rosie Mirabella misfired her throw to first that brought in two runs. Weiss came around to score on an Alex Garza double to go up 5-0. Susquehanna rallied in the fourth to gather three runs to cut the lead down to two. With runners on second and third, Henry brought in the pinch runner Kassidy Smith on a sacrifice fly to center. Kaba followed this up with an RBI double to right center, followed by a Zoey Bork RBI single up the middle to bring home Kaba.

The Cardinals broke the game open in the fifth with five runs, starting with a triple to left field by Sophia Fike. Back-to-back doubles followed to make it a 7-3 ballgame, then Kaitlyn Murphy singled up the middle for another run, then Caroline Adams sent a single to right that would result in two runs off an error. Susquehanna was held to just two hits in the remaining frames, despite loading the bases in the seventh with no outs.

Amerman was handed the defeat, walking four with two earned runs and no hits on seven batters faced in her lone inning of work. Jones pitched the remaining six innings, allowing six earned runs on 13 hits with three strikeouts. The River Hawks collected nine hits, led by a pair of hits from Warner and Bork, with Bork accounting for one RBI. They had three multi-base hits from Henry's triple and a double from Lexi Palumbo and Kaba, with Henry and Kaba earning one RBI apiece. Cartolic's Katie Hurd pitched a complete game, surrendering three earned runs on nine hits with four strikeouts.

Susquehanna will rematch with Scranton Saturday at noon after sweeping the Wolves last Saturday in both teams' regular season finales. The winner will face the loser of the Catholic-Moravian championship bracket matchup immediately after. Two wins Saturday will put Susquehanna in the championship game(s) Sunday at 11:00 A.M., with a second game to follow if both teams remain with one loss.