NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The Carleton College softball team continued a strong start to their 2024 campaign by sweeping a doubleheader against the North Central Rams, triumphing 8-0 and 14-2 in a pair of 5-inning games.
 
The pair of rookie hurlers for Carleton (4-0) continued to impress, as Sydney Trentman and Rachel Block combined to allow just two hits and deny the Rams (0-6) an earned run in their 10 total innings. The Knights' offense clicked again as well, as 13 of the 15 players who stepped to the dish for Carleton reached base with the lineup collecting 26 total hits in the twin bill. Alissa Maquar rapped out four singles to lead the Knights.
 
"Another good early season test for us by playing on a school day and in the evening," said Carleton head coach Amy Erickson "We were able to settle in and keep working our game plan, adjusting to their pitcher, and doing the small things to keep our offense humming.
 
"We have some more work to do to prepare for our upcoming Spring Trip where the competition will ramp up as we keep moving towards the tough MIAC schedule."
 
Game 1
Trentman tossed a no-hitter in her debut last week and followed that up with a one-hit shutout. She did not allow a hit until the fourth inning, when a bloop from North Central's Maggie Kohl dropped just in front of a diving Amy Chen.

Trentman fanned the side in the first and fourth frames and registered two strikeouts in each the second, third, and fifth innings. She finished with 12 strikeouts, the most K's by a Carleton pitcher since March 24, 2017.
 
Carleton grabbed the lead in the bottom of the first. Megan Smith beat out an infield single and Helen Moses bunted for a hit. On the Moses bunt, a throwing miscue and some alert baserunning allowed Smith to scamper home, and Moses would come around on a Grace Colburn RBI groundout.
 
Trentman and Rams' pitcher Carla Mendoza traded zeros in the second and third innings, as Moses kept Trentman's hitless streak intact for the moment with a sliding catch in left.
 
In the fourth, though, Chen dropped a double in right field to start another Knights rally. Carleton would end up pushing three runs across in the stanza and added three more in the fifth to reach the eight-run rule and wrap up the victory.

Trentman became the first Knights' pitcher to throw back-to-back complete game shutouts in at least 20 years.
 
Game 2
A pair of Knight errors in the top of the first permitted the Rams to jump out to a 2-0 lead. Carleton was able to regain the lead with the help of a trio of North Central errors in the bottom of the frame, grabbing four runs and a 4-2 edge.
 
After the rough first, Block settled into the game and retired 10 in a row from the second to fifth innings. In the meantime, Carleton knocked in three runs in the second, with Block helping her own cause with a two-run single.
 
The Knights then brought 12 batters to the plate in the fourth, racking up seven runs in the inning, with Megan Smith cracking a triple to right-center and Block knocking in two more runs with a double. Block pitched a scoreless fifth, giving the Knights their fourth run-rule win in as many games.
 
Block equaled Trentman with a one-hitter of her own. Although Block allowed two runs, both were unearned. She had seven strikeouts and walked a pair.
 
Up Next for the Knights:
Carleton takes a brief break before heading to Clermont, Fla., for 12 games during spring break (March 15-23).