CLERMONT, Fla. – The Carleton College softball team closed its Spring Break trip with a pair of victories on Saturday. The Knights prevailed 9-6 (9 inn.) in a back-and-forth game against Kalamazoo College followed by a convincing 7-0 triumph over Westminster College (Mo.).
Grace Colburn led the Knights with five hits on the day.
"It was a great way to end our trip south," said Carleton head coach
Amy Erickson. "Overall, it was a good trip for our team to continue to grow and get stronger as we head into the MIAC schedule."
Game One
Carleton 9, Kalamazoo 6 (9 inn.)
The Knights (9-5) trailed 3-0 heading into the top of the sixth inning, but the bats, which had been held to only one hit over the first five frames finally came alive.
With one out in the sixth,
Megan Smith doubled and was followed by singles from
Bryanna Schaffer,
Adriana Wiggins, and Colburn to help Carleton push across a pair of runs.
The Knights scored three more times in the top of the seventh to build a 5-3 lead. Kalamazoo (2-3) responded with two runs thanks to three singles and an error, sending the game into extra innings.
With runners placed at second to begin each half inning, it was no surprise for both sides to scratch out a run in the eighth.
In the ninth, Smith and Schaffer started with singles to right field, plating
Helen Moses with the first tally. Wiggins followed with a RBI groundout, and
Regan Wills added a RBI single.
Rachel Block (5-2), who tossed all 9.0 innings for the Knights, retired the Hornets in order to close out her fifth victory of the season. This was the longest outing for a Carleton pitcher since Logan Robinson worked all 9.0 innings of a 3-2 win over Saint Mary's on April 9, 2022.
"Rachel had a strong pitching performance again and really came up big to give us the chance to comeback late in the game," Erickson said. "And we had some crucial hits down the stretch."
Colbrunn finished with three hits, while Smith, Schaffer, and
Alissa Maquar added two hits apiece.
Game Two
Carleton 7, Westminster 0
Sydney Trentman (4-3) tossed a two-hitter for her third shutout of the season, totalling five strikeouts with a walk. She did not allow a runner past second base in the game and held the Bluejays to an 0-for-6 performance when batting with runners on base.
"Sydney came out tough, and we carried the momentum of Game 1 into Game 2 and kept our offense going," Erickson said.
Back-to-back singles by Colburn and Marquar chased Wiggins around to score in the bottom of the first.
Esme Song started the bottom of the second inning with an opposite field single and scored two outs later on Smith's double to right field. Schaffer followed with an RBI single, widening the lead to 3-0.
The Knights doubled the advantage in the next stanza as Song delivered an RBI single and Moses contributed a two-run single to center field.
Smith's sacrifice fly in the fifth inning closed the scoring.
Schaffer, Wiggins, Colburn, and Song had two hits each to pace the 13-hit attack, the Knights' highest in exactly a month.
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton returns home and prepares to open the conference schedule by hosting Saint Mary's for a doubleheader on Wednesday, April 3. First pitch is slated for 3:30 p.m.
