CLERMONT, Fla – The Carleton College softball team absorbed a pair of setbacks while wrapping up its Spring Break trip to Florida. The Knights dropped a back-and-forth contest with St. Lawrence University 6-4 before falling 11-2 (5 inn.) to Middlebury College.
St. Lawrence 6, Carleton 4
The Knights (10-6) opened the scoring in the first inning as
Megan Smith singled and raced home on
Adriana Wiggins' triple to center field.
The Saints (3-7) took their first lead of the contest with a pair of runs in the third inning via a sacrifice fly and a two-out RBI single. Carleton tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the inning after
Esme Song worked a walk, stole second, and scored on
Samantha Rodriguez's single to left field.
St. Lawrence immediately re-gained the advantage in the fourth by capitalizing on a leadoff walk to Leah Verschneider and run-scoring double off the bat of Marina Juan. The home half of the frame saw RBI doubles by
Jade Thach and
Emily Vogel push Carleton back in front 4-3.
The score was unchanged until St. Lawrence scored three two-out runs in the top of the seventh. The Knights went down 1-2-3 in their last turn at bat.
Gloria Hronek was the lone Knight with a multi-hit game, going 2-for-3 with a walk.
Sydney Trentman made the start, permitting three runs over 3.0 innings.
Genevieve Lyon followed with 3.0 frames of 1-run relief work, while
Rachel Block took the loss after an error opened the door for two unearned runs in the seventh.
Middlebury 11, Carleton 2 (5 inn.)
The Panthers (13-1) raced out to a 6-0 lead after only an inning of play. After Carleton got one of those runs back in the top of the third without the benefit of a base hit—utilizing two walks and two hit batters to force a run across—Middlebury responded with five more runs in the bottom of the frame.
After back-to-back singles by Song and Wiggins in the top of fifth, Hronek delivered a two-out single to plate the Knights' other run.
Hronek was on base all three times thanks to two singles and a walk and had both RBI for Carleton. Song went 2-for-3 and scored the Knights' runs.
Reliever
Abby Gooch was Carleton's most effective pitcher, tossing 1.2 scoreless frames in her season debut.
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton will open MIAC play by visiting Gustavus Adolphus College on Wednesday, April 1. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
