PHILADELPHIA - Senior pitcher Mason Spichiger threw her second career complete-game shutout as The University of Pennsylvania softball team (4-13, 2-3 Ivy) earned a split on Saturday with Dartmouth. The Quakers won game one 8-0, before falling 4-2 in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader with the Big Green. The two teams will be back at Penn Park on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. to wrap up the three-game series. 

Inside the Numbers
* The Quakers won their first shortened game of the season. With Sarah Cwiertnia's walk-off single in the bottom of the sixth, Penn took an 8-0 lead after the fifth, therefore ending the game. 

* Cwiertnia has multiple hits in three of her last four games. 

* Lucy Yang hit her fourth home run of the season. She is on pace for nine this year which would be the most for a freshman since Leah Allen hit 13 her rookie season in 2014. 

* Yang and Cwiertnia had six RBI for the Quakers across both games Saturday. 

* Cwiertnia's home run was the fourth of her career and first since April 15 of last season against Princeton. 

* Sam Pederson led the team in hits, going 4-of-8 at the plate. 

* Mason Spichiger pitched her second career complete-game shutout in game one. The senior pitched all six innings in Game 1, allowing just five hits and one walk. 

* The shutout was the first of the season for The Red and Blue. They had four shutout wins last season.

* With the shutout, Spichiger improved her ERA to a 4.08 on the year. 

* With the 8-0 win, the Quakers move to 2-0 this season when scoring eight or more runs. 

* Meanwhile, they are 0-4 when scoring two runs this season. 

* Three of the four Dartmouth runs in Game 2 came on home runs. 

* Penn continues to be a force when it comes to stealing bases. Ranking 48th in the nation in stolen bases, the Quakers went 3-of-3 on Saturday. 

How it Happened
Saturday marked the second Ivy League series of the season for the Quakers. This time they would be going up against Dartmouth and would look to get off to a good start. 

The Red and Blue did just that. After falling in back-to-back extra-inning games the weekend before against Brown, on Saturday Penn got the early runs they needed. Junior Sarah Cwiertnia hit the fourth home run of her career and first of the season in the first inning. The two-run shot brought in Sam Pederson to give the Quakers a two-run lead. 

With the help of Mason Spichiger in the circle, Penn held on to the narrow lead through the sixth inning. The senior pitched her best game of the season, allowing no runs in what ended up being her second career complete-game shutout. Spichiger struck out just one batter, but stranded six Big Green runners on base including three in the fourth and two more --  both in scoring position -- in the sixth. Both times the Penn pitcher forced easy pop-ups to end the inning. In fact, she induced 10 pop-outs on the day. 

The Quakers extended the lead and blew it open in the bottom of the sixth. Lucy Yang hit her fourth home run of the season to put Penn up, 4-0. With the bases loaded, Pederson brought in all three runners on an error by the Dartmouth centerfielder while reaching second. The scoring started and ended with Cwiertnia, as the junior had her third hit of the game, this time to right field, bringing in Pederson to score the eighth and final run. 

In Game 2, it was the Big Green which got out to a quick lead. In fact, the first Dartmouth batter that freshman Abigail Abramson faced hit a home run deep to right field for a 1-0 lead right out of the gates. The freshman settled in after that, however, retiring three of the next four batters, including the first of what would be a career-high seven strikeouts on the day. 

Down just 1-0, the Quakers were unable to get level as the Red and Blue got runners to second base just twice in the first five innings. 

In the fifth, Dartmouth hit its second home run of the day, this time bringing in two runs to put the Quakers down 3-0. 

Penn finally cut into the Big Green lead in the sixth as Yang had her third RBI of the day bringing in Pederson. Oretsky then advanced Yang to third with her second hit, and the freshman scored when Oretsky created a distraction stealing second to cut the deficit to 3-2. 

Dartmouth scored a run in the top of the seventh to make it 4-2 headed into the bottom of the inning. The Quakers managed to get runners on first and second, as Kayla Ketring and Pederson both singled to start the rally. With just one out remaining and Jessica England representing the winning run at the plate, the junior fought off a 2-2 count waiting for her pitch but eventually grounded out to second base to end the game.

What's Next
The Quakers will go for the series win on Sunday at Penn Park at 12:30 as they wrap up the three-game series. Penn will play the final game of their eight-game homestand on Tuesday against Lehigh before heading back on the road to take on Brown next weekend.