PHILADELPHIA -- The Philadelphia University softball team found two different ways to win in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference doubleheader sweep of Chestnut Hill on Thursday afternoon.  The Rams took game one 2-1 thanks to a tremendous pitching performance by Stephanie Pepper.  In game two, Philadelphia scored the final seven runs to pull out a 7-5 victory. 

GAME ONE
Pepper was sensational in the circle for the Rams as she recorded a career-high 13 strikeouts in the complete-game win. She struck out the side in three innings, including a 1-2-3 seventh to seal the win. The Griffins managed just six hit off Pepper.

The last Philadelphia pitcher to fan 13 was Ali Schmidt on April 14, 2010 in a 3-1 win over Bloomfield.

All of the Rams' offense came in the second inning. With runners at first and third, Mollie Burrell broke the scoreless tie with a base hit to left field that scored Pepper, who doubled to start the frame as part of a 2-for-3 game. Shannon Weaver tacked on an important insurance run as she came up two batters later and delivered a double to bring home Gianna Bliss.

Chestnut Hill's lone run came in the third on a two-out home run by Corie Apodaca. Apodaca had three of the Griffins' six hits.

Philadelphia got six hits off of Briannen Holloway, who took the loss.

GAME TWO
Trailing 5-1 after five innings, the Philadelphia bats woke up in the sixth as the Rams pushed four two-out runs across to knot the game at five.

Mariah Hans stepped up with the bases loaded and stroked a bases-clearing double, part of a 2-of-2 contest, to center to bring the Rams within one. Weaver followed that up with a base hit to drive in Hans and tie the score.

After the Griffins went down in order during their turn in the sixth, the Rams put together another two-out rally in the seventh to take the lead.

Naomi Stas jump-started the late surge with a two-out double and chased start Kaitlyn Johnson from the game. Pepper was the first hitter after the pitching change and took the second pitch she saw down the left field line for a RBI single, scoring Stas, to put the Rams up 6-5. Two hitters later, Burrell added Philadelphia's seventh run with a base hit to left.

Chestnut Hill got out to a 5-0 lead in just two innings of play.

Laura Eidam had a sacrifice fly and Nicole Carney recorded a RBI single as part of a three-run first. Apodaca and Sofia Cedrone added to the Griffin lead with RBI base hits in the second.

Thanks to nine hits in the final two innings, Philadelphia outhit Chestnut Hill 13-9. Monica Levins, Stas, Bliss, Hans, and Weaver all had two hits each.

After a rough first two innings, Stas settled down to face just four batters over the minimum in the last five. She struck out four batters in the win.

Philadelphia returns home to face Nyack in a CACC doubleheader on Saturday, April 16 at noon.