By the end of spring break, the Baruch College Bearcats softball team swept their doubleheader against the Lehman College Lightning to improve to 18-12, 12-4 in the CUNY Athletic Conference.

Baruch is now second in the conference behind the undefeated Hunter College Hawks.

The Bearcats overwhelmed opposing pitcher Sky Mercado from the start, scoring seven runs in the first inning alone.

The team added eight more runs in the fifth to win with a score of 19-0.

Carly Quint earned the win after pitching five innings, allowing only one hit while striking out a career high of 13 batters. She was also stellar at the plate, hitting four for five, including six RBIs with a double and home run.

Julia Cuttone hit three for five  with two RBIs, while Jessica Davis went three for three with five RBIs.

The second game did not start as favorably for the Bearcats after Lehman chased Cuttone, scoring six runs.

The Bearcats spent the rest of the game chipping away the deficit, scoring in all but one inning to win, 7-6. This included a three-run sixth to tie the game at six a piece.

To start the final inning, Baruch batters hit two-consecutive singles and later advanced to second and third following a wild pitch. Caroline Gallagher then grounded out, scoring Emilia Zakoscielny the go-ahead run.

Quint pitched in her second game of the day, securing the comeback after pitching two scoreless innings.

Gallagher entered the game in relief of Cuttone and pitched three and 1/3 innings, allowing three hits and striking out five.

Earlier this month, Baruch split a series against the John Jay College Bloodhounds.

The Bearcats lost the first match, 6-7, after both teams swapped the lead in the third and fourth innings. Baruch would cut the lead down to just a run in the fifth and had an opportunity to score in the next inning with runners on the corners before Jordyn Schwartz grounded out on a bunt.

In the second game, Baruch scored in the first and did not surrender the lead to win, 7-2.

Quint pitched a complete game to earn her fifth win of the season, allowing only five hits and two runs in seven innings. She struck out seven batters and walked none. While batting, she was three for four with an RBI.

Bridget Campanelli led the Bearcats with three RBIs and went four for four from the plate.

The Bearcats then faced the York College Cardinals (0-7, 0-3 CUNYAC). Both matches were uncompetitive, with Baruch winning by an overwhelming margin, 27-0 and 20-1.

The team scored in all but one inning throughout the day. Only one player did not record a hit.

Against the Brooklyn College Bulldogs, the team swept the doubleheader, 9-1 in a five inning match and 10-9 in a game that had extra innings.

Quint won the game after hitting a walk off double in the eighth.

Baruch faced John Jay again and split another doubleheader, losing the first game, 5-8, and winning the second, 9-8, on a Megan Bell walk-off single.

The second game had both teams exchange leads, with John Jay scoring six runs in the sixth to come back from a three-run deficit. Baruch responded with a four-run inning to take the lead before the seventh where John Jay once again got in front.

Baruch then faced Hunter (11-9, 10-0 CUNYAC) on April 21 in a rescheduled matchup.

The first match was a low-scoring affair where Hunter scored one of the two runs in the game on an error in the third.

Hunter’s Sophia Perez tripled to lead off the fifth and scored after a sacrifice fly from Samantha Mar.

Baruch lost the game, 0-2.

Quint (7-6) earned the loss after pitching six innings, allowing six hits, two runs and striking out eight.

Campanelli had Baruch’s sole two hits of the match.

Later in the day, the game was tied until the fourth when Hunter batted around the order against Gallagher. The Bearcats lost, 2-9.

After entering the game in relief, Quint had a two RBI single, Baruch’s only runs of the game.

Although the score was decisive, Baruch had 11 hits and other opportunities to score.

In the second, the team had a runner on second before being thrown out at home plate. The Bearcats had three straight hits to start the next inning before three-straight outs were recorded.

Baruch will end their season with three doubleheaders, first a non-conference match at Purchase College (11-19, 7-9 Skyline Conference) on April 26 and then consecutive matches at home will follow, including a rematch versus Hunter on April 30 and games against York on May 1.