The Muhlenberg softball team advanced to the semifinals of the Centennial Conference playoffs with a 6-0 home win against Dickinson.

Senior Raya Kunes was brilliant, allowing no runs and five hits through 6.1 innings, as the Mules (24-14) earned a trip to face top-seeded Washington College on Thursday. The remainder of the double-elimination tournament will take place at Washington on Saturday and Sunday.

Muhlenberg jumped on top early, with its first four hitters recording singles. Two of them were thrown out at the plate, but one did score on an infield single by freshman Lillie Teague.

The Mules broke the game open by taking advantage of three infield errors to score four runs in the fourth. Senior Sophia Cicchetti brought in the second run with a squeeze bunt, plating junior pinch-runner Jamie Carfagna (pictured above), and Muhlenberg stole the final run.

With runners on first and third and two outs, sophomore Scooter Hulsen took off for second and stopped halfway to the base. After a moment of hesitation, the Red Devil catcher threw to second, after which Cicchetti sprinted for home, sliding in safely.

It was the third stolen base of the game for Cicchetti, giving her sole possession of the CC record with 44 swipes on the season.

At that point, Kunes had faced the minimum 12 batters through four innings, striking out four consecutive in one stretch. She allowed singles in the fifth and sixth, when the Red Devils (11-21) advanced a runner past first base for the first time.

After allowing hits to two of the first three batters in the seventh, Kunes handed the ball to junior Justine Bergara, who recorded a groundout and strikeout to finish off Muhlenberg's first CC playoff shutout since 2013.

The Mules added a final run in the sixth when junior Kaya Mahy singled, stole second and came all the way around to score on an infield hit by Hulsen.