DUNDAS, Minn. – The Carleton College softball team topped a pair of UMAC opponents at the Dundas Dome, beating the Crown College Polars 9-1 (5 inn.) and the University of Wisconsin-Superior Yellowjackets 9-6.
Rachel Block earned a win and a save on the mound and
Grace Colburn went 6-for-7 with six RBI at the plate to key the Knights to victory.
"It was great to see our team bounce back in a big way today and play with heart and fire," said Carleton head coach
Amy Erickson. "Two fun and exciting games. The pitching staff really worked well together and some more timely, solid hitting were the difference makers. It was also fun to see some stellar defensive plays, especially Livi's diving grab to pump the team up in game two."
Game one recap
The Polars (0-3) led off the game with the first three batters reaching base, but starter
Rachel Block bore down and punched out two batters to strand the bases loaded and hold Crown to one run. Block proceeded to retire ten batters in a row.
Carleton (2-2) went one-two-three in the first, but
Adriana Wiggins laced a double to left to spark a crooked-number rally in the second. The Knights rapped out five hits to push across five runs in the frame.
In the third, rookie
Jade Thach crushed her first career hit to center, a standup triple.
Grace Colburn drove her in with a single to make it 6-1, part of a 3-for-3 game with two RBI. Block helped her own cause with a two-run double in the fourth, and
Alissa Maquar pushed Colburn across in the fifth with a sacrifice fly that secured the 9-1 mercy-rule victory for the hosts.
Block (1-0) earned her first win of the season by tossing 5.0 innings, K'ing four, and allowing just one unearned run. The sophomore also went 2-for-3 with three RBI.
Esme Song also posted two hits.
Game two recap
Sydney Trentman put the first two UW-Superior (1-1) batters on base, but retired the next three hitters to escape the jam unscathed. In the bottom of the inning,
Megan Smith reached on an error,
Bryanna Schaffer stung an RBI double to right, and Colburn hit a ground-rule double to plate Schaffer for a 2-0 lead.
A pair of infield hits in the third started a Yellowjacket rally, as the visitors scored four runs in the inning before
Becca Madsen entered from the bullpen to strand the bases loaded. Carleton responded immediately in the bottom of the third, with seven consecutive batters reaching base to score three runs and retake a 5-4 advantage. Madsen kept Superior off the scoreboard through the fifth with the help of an unbelievable diving catch in the left-center gap by
Livi Peters, and Block returned to the rubber to throw a scoreless sixth.
Maquar punched a double to right in the bottom of the sixth, starting a spree where six of seven hitters in a row notched a base hit, scoring four insurance runs for a 9-4 edge. Those runs would prove crucial when the Yellowjackets pushed for two runs in the top of the seventh, before Block retired the final batter on a comebacker.
Madsen (1-0) finished on the upside with 2.2 hitless and scoreless innings. Block earned her second career save with 2.0 two-strikeout innings. Schaffer was 3-for-4 with three runs and two RBI.
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton takes nearly a month off from game action, and returns with the beginning of a 12-game tour of SCIAC opponents. The first games of their California trip are set for Wednesday Mar. 19 against Chapman University, with game one's first pitch coming at 2:00 p.m. PDT/4:00 p.m. CDT.
