CLERMONT, Fla. – The Carleton College softball team split a pair of games on Saturday, falling 3-2 to Colby College before bouncing back with a 6-3 triumph over Lawrence University.
"Another couple of good battles today. We did a good job of adjusting to different bounces with our first games of the year on dirt and grass today," said Carleton head coach
Amy Erickson. "
Sydney Trentman gave us another strong outing in game one, but we didn't quite execute when we needed to. But I'm proud of our bounce back to grab game two. We just kept chipping away and found our opportunities to execute and take advantage of some miscues.
"
Rachel Block came in in relief and grew stronger with each inning to give us a chance to get back in the game and then shut the door on their offense."
Colby 3, Carleton 2
The Knights scored in the top of the first as
Megan Smith started her five-hit day with a single and stolen base before scoring on a
Grace Colburn single up the middle. Carleton doubled its lead in the fourth inning after
Jade Thach hit a two-bagger down the left-field line and raced home on a single by
Esme Song.
Trentman ended up with a no decision after woring 5.0 innings of scoreless, one-hit ball with a walk and six strikeouts before turning the game over to the bullpen.
The Mules (4-1) knotted the game in the sixth via an error, triple, and a single. Another miscue permitted the winning run to score in the bottom of the seventh. With a runner at second and one out, the Colby batter lined out to third base, but the attempt to end the game by doubling the runner off second base was off line and the winning run raced home.
Carleton out-hit Colby by a 10-4 margin thanks to multi-hit games for Smith,
Adriana Wiggins, and Thach. However, the Knights left nine runners on base—including at least one in each inning—with six of baserunners stranded in scoring position.
Carleton 6, Lawrence 3
The Vikings (5-5) raced out to a 3-0 lead by scoring twice in the opening stanza and adding another tally in the second.
Block worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the third inning, and Carleton carried the momentum over to its turn at bat and pushed across a trio of runs to level the score. Smith had an RBI triple and scored on a grounder. Wiggins reached on a fielder's choice, advanced on a wild pitch, and came home on Colburn's single to right field.
After Block tossed a pair of 1-2-3 innings, the Knights took the lead in the bottom of the fifth. Smith and
Angelia Wu had consecutive singles to start the rally. A fielder's choice and a double steal put runners at second and third with one down. The Vikings elected to try and cut down the go-ahead runner on a grounder, but Wu slid in under the tag, and
Glaoria Hronek followed with a two-run single to give Carleton a 6-3 advantage.
Smith had a game-high three hits as she pushed her personal hitting streak to eight games.
Block (2-1) hurled 6.0 scoreless innings of two-hit relief to earn the victory.
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton will enjoy a couple days off before Augustana (Ill.) College and Buffalo State on Tuesday, March 24. First pitches are slated for 10:00 a.m. EDT and 12:15 p.m. EDT, respectively.
