The Middlebury softball team swept both ends of a doubleheader on a cool and blustery Tuesday afternoon against in-state foe Johnson State. The Panthers, who were the visitors on the scoreboard, were victorious in game one by a 5-4 score in eight innings, and cruised in the nightcap 17-0 in five innings. The twinbill was originally scheduled to be played at Johnson State but moved to Middlebury due to field conditions.
In game one, Johnson State (1-3) took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first on a homer to straight-away center from Anna Bingham. Middlebury's Allison Quigley answered in the top of the second with a shot to left center to tie the game at 1-1.
The Panthers (11-5) grabbed a 2-1 lead in the third with a bases-loaded walk drawn by Carlyn Vachow to plate Kat Maehr, who had reached on a fielder's choice. Middlebury increased its lead to 4-1 in the fourth when Siobhan O'Sullivan blasted a two-run shot that scored Christina Bicks, who reached on a one-out bunt single.
The Badgers made it a 4-2 game in the fifth when Jennie Moore singled and came around to score on a double to left by Andrea Williams. Johnson State's Kristy McDonnell singled down the right field line to lead off the bottom of the seventh inning as the Badgers rallied. One batter later, Moore homered to center to knot the game at 4-4 and force extra innings.
With the international tie-breaker rule in effect, Quigley was placed on second base to start the inning and Vachow bunted her to third. One batter later, Taylor Gardner drove in the eventual game-winning run with a looping single down the left field line.
Neve Stearns came on in relief of Quigley in the bottom of the eighth, striking out the side to earn her second save of the season. Quigley improved to 7-2 for the spring with the win, striking out a career-best 14 batters. Sarah Freyre went 3-4 with a double, while O'Sullivan, Quigley and Gardner each went 2-4 in the game. O'Sullivan finished with a double, homer and two RBI.
Andrea Williams (1-1) suffered the loss, allowing four earned runs and striking out four over eight innings of work. Moore paced Johnson State at the plate, going 2-3 with a homer, two runs scored and two driven in.
In the nightcap, the Panthers scored multiple times in each inning. In the first, Gardner was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, scoring Jackie Stern who reached on a bunt single. Ali Della Volpe had an RBI bunt single and Erin Giles laced a run-scoring double off the fence in left center.
In the second, Freyre launched her first home run this spring and third of her career on a 1-2 pitch to dead center field into the wind, scoring O'Sullivan who doubled down the left field line to start the inning. The Panthers tacked on five more in the third, highlighted by Giles' first career homer, a two-run shot, to straight-away center and a two-run single to center off the bat of Stern.
Freyre continued her hot hitting in the second game with her first career triple, a three-run base knock down the right field line that plated Maehr, Stern and Kati Daczkowski. O'Sullivan capped the scoring with a two-run double that was hit on a rope and pinged off the top of the fence.
O'Sullivan led the Panther bats going 3-4 with a trio of doubles and two runs scored. Stern went 3-5 with three runs scored and two RBI, while Freyre went 2-4 and tied her career high with five RBI. Giles also had a multi-hit game going 2-3 with a double, homer and three RBI.
In the circle, Stearns and Maehr combined to give up just one hit in the shutout, a bloop single in the third off the bat of Johnson State's Amanda McClean that O'Sullivan made a diving attempt on in left center field but couldn't quite corral the sinking liner. Stearns improved to 4-1, going the first three innings and striking out six, while Maehr logged the final two with four punchouts.
Sarah Voorhis (0-1) was saddled with the loss going three innings and allowing 10 earned runs on 11 hits, while McDonnell hurled the final two frames.
The Panthers will return to the diamond when they travel to Clinton, New York for a three-game NESCAC West series against Hamilton. First pitch of the single game on Friday is set for 5:00 p.m., while Saturday's doubleheader is scheduled to start at 12:00 p.m. Johnson is slated to play at SUNY Canton on Thursday for a double header at 3:00pm.