CLERMONT, Fla. – The Union College softball team allowed only one run in two games as the Dutchwomen swept Manchester University and Colby College by the scores of 4-1 and 6-0 on the team's second day of the Spring Games at Legends Way Fields.
 
First-year Jessie Rooney was fantastic in the circle for Union (2-1) on the day, not allowing a run and striking out 15 batters in 11 innings of work to earn the victory in both games. Rooney and junior Amanda Granato combined to allow only six hits and one run in 14 innings of work.
 
Junior Karson Saunders was the lone Union player with multiple hits on the day, going 3-for-5 with two walks, a triple and two runs scored. Classmate Olivia Valery led the team with three runs batted in on the day as well.

Game 1: Union 4, Manchester 1
After a scoreless first two innings, Manchester broke through in the third inning on an RBI single. Manchester led 1-0 until the bottom of the fifth inning, when Union plated four runs to come from behind.

After the first two batters were retired, senior Julissa Malana and junior Anna Zdunczyk both reached on errors. Junior Karson Saunders walked to load the bases and classmate Olivia Valery hit a three-run bases-clearing triple to push Union in front by a 3-1 score. Valery later scored on anothe Manchester error to give the Dutchwomen a three-run edge.

Staked to a lead for the first time, Rooney struck out the side in the sixth and started the seventh with another punchout before a pair of groundouts finished off the contest. The first-year finished with 10 strikeouts in four innings of one-hit relief, marking the first time a Union pitcher struck out 10 or more in a game since 2014 when Alyssa Wolejko '14 had 12 and Allison Staats '15 had 10 in a doubleheader sweep of RIT. 

Game 2: Union 6, Colby 0
 
Rooney continued her dominance in the second game of the day, conceding only two hits in seven innings for her first collegiate shutout. Rooney (2-1) allowed just one batter to reach second base on the afternoon and struck out five in picking up her second win.
 
Saunders reached base three times to lead the Union offense, going 2-for-3 with a walk and run scored. Senior Julia Boule and junior Anna Zdunczyk both drove in a pair of runs as well for the Dutchwomen.
 
After two scoreless innings, Union manufactured a run in the top of the third without the ball leaving the infield. Junior Tara Hartnett led off with a walk, went all the way from first to third on a sacrifice bunt by senior Julissa Malana, and came home on an infield grounder by Zdunczyk.
 
The Dutchwomen got on the board again in the fourth and fifth frames to increase the lead. Boule came home on a two-out RBI single from junior Samantha Long in the fourth to put Union up 2-0. The lead then doubled again in the fifth thanks to another RBI groundout by Zdunczyk and a two-out double by Boule that plated junior Olivia Valery.
 
Union added on some more insurance in the top of the seventh, plating two more runs. Boule earned her second RBI of the day with a bases-loaded walk, and first-year Faith Hughes followed with a sacrifice fly that allowed Saunders to come home.
 
Union will return to action tomorrow with two more games against Keuka College (9:15 a.m.) and Buffalo State College (11:30 a.m.).