Baltimore, MD - The Cairn Highlanders and Notre Dame (MD) Gators battled for over five total hours and 18 innings across two games on Sunday afternoon. When it was all said an done, the Notre Dame Gators came out on top in both ends of the doubleheader by scores of 14-13 (11 innings) and 9-7. Notre Dame won the first game on a walk-off single by Sydney Salgado in the 11th inning.
 
Game One – Notre Dame (MD) defeats Cairn 14-13 (11 innings)
The marathon game started fast with three runs in the first inning. Cairn struck first when Meagan Maratita tripled with two away and Katelynn Reiss singled to drive her home.
 
With Cairn leading 1-0, the Gators quickly struck for two runs in the bottom of the first to claim a 2-1 lead. After a scoreless second the Highlanders tied the game in the top of the third with an RBI single by Jessica Rolo.
 
With the score tied 2-2 heading to the bottom of the fourth, the game took a turn to the offensive. Over the next two innings, the Highlanders and Gators scored six runs each. The Gators put three runs on the board in both the fourth and fifth, while the Highlanders scored two in the fifth and four more in the sixth to tie the game.
 
For the Highlanders it was Reiss and Keely Congleton driving in runs in the fifth and Maratita and Rolo chasing home teammates in the sixth.
 
With the score tied 8-8, Cairn had to escape a jam in the bottom of the seventh to force extra innings. Maratita wiggled out of a two-on, two-out jam with a pop-up to the catcher.
 
After a scoreless eighth, the Highlanders struck for three runs in the top of the ninth. All three of Cairn's runs came on a two-out single from Reiss that cleared the bases and gave the visitors an 11-8 lead. In the bottom of the ninth, the Gators countered with three runs of their own to extend the game.
 
Starting in the 10th inning of NCAA softball games, the international tie-breaker comes into effect. The tie-breaker puts the last batter in the order for a team on second base to start the inning. In the 10th, both placed runners came around to score, one for the Highlanders and one for the Gators, so the game trudged on to the 11th.
 
In the 11th, Haley Tinney was the placed runner. She came around to score on a strikeout when the Gators had to throw down to first after the third strike went into the dirt.
 
For the third-straight inning, Cairn was three outs away from claiming their first CSAC victory of the season. Unfortunately for the Highlanders, it would not come in this game as Notre Dame scored a run to tie the game on an error and another run to win the game on a single by Sydney Salgado with one out.

At the dish, Katelynn Reiss and Jessica Rolo each collected four hits to lead the Highlanders with Reiss driving home five runs on the afternoon.
 
In the circle Meagan Maratita went the distance tossing 10.1 innings allowing 14 runs (nine earned) on 18 hits, while striking out four.

A quick look at the Cairn record books reveals that the 11-inning game was the first extra inning game that went 10 or more innings since a 10-inning, 8-7 victory over Baptist Bible on Apr. 26, 2014.

While Cairn's record books are not complete prior to 2006, the 11-inning game was the longest game for Cairn in at least the last 11 years.

Game Two - Notre Dame (MD) defeats Cairn 9-7
In a more traditional, seven-inning game, the Notre Dame Gators topped the Highlanders by a 9-7 final. Cairn scored in five of their seven trips to the plate but scored multiple runs in an inning only twice, with two runs in both the second and sixth. On the other side of the coin, it was feast or famine for the Gators. Notre Dame scored in just three innings, but tallied four runs inthe first, three in the fourth, and two in the sixth to earn the 9-7 victory.

In the first the Gators grabbed a 4-0 lead with three RBI singles and a bases loaded walk. The Highlanders limited the damage thanks to a pop-up double-play to first base with the bases loaded.

Cairn battled back and ended up tying the game after scoring two runs in the second, one in the third, and one more in the fourth. During the comeback, Katelyn Loveless, Jenna Alshay, and Haley Tinney each drove in runs.

Immediately after the Highlanders made it a 4-4 game, the Gators responded with three runs in the bottom of the fourth. Two singles started the inning, before a double brought home two runs and a single later in the frame brought home a third.

Once again, Cairn was on the comeback trail. The Highlanders scored one in the fifth and two more in the sixth to level the game at 7-7 heading to the bottom of the sixth. Tinney had a big hit in the sixth with an RBI double that brought Vanessa Munoz home. She later around to score on a Maratita sacrifice fly to tie the game at 7-7.

Just as they did in the fourth, the Gators responded with a rally in the bottom of the sixth that broke the tie. In the sixth it was an error that allowed two runs to score and give Notre Dame a 9-7 lead.

Cairn was unable to score in the top of the seventh and the Gators took Game Two if the doubleheader by a 9-7 final.

Haley Tinney took the loss, while throwing six innings and allowing nine runs (all earned) on 15 hits and five walks.

At the dish, Katelyn Loveless went 2-4 with a run scored and an RBI to lead Cairn. Tinney also drove home two in the loss.

The two losses drop Cairn to 6-4 on the season and 0-4 in the CSAC. The Highlanders will have a quick turnaround with a doubleheader scheduled for Monday afternoon against the Neumann Knights. The Highlanders will travel to Aston tomorrow with the first pitch scheduled for 3:00 p.m.