Castleton, VT - Hilary Bemis tossed a complete-game four-hitter and Alicia Zraunig went 3-for-3 as Castleton defeated Lyndon State 5-1 in a North Atlantic Conference Softball Quarterfinal Tuesday afternoon.

Bemis cruised through the first six innings of the game, allowing just one runner to reach third base, before allowing back-to-back doubles in the seventh for Lyndon State's only run. Bemis struck out Kathy Kline to start the seventh, then allowed a Michelle Wilcox double to right-centerfield and a Theresa Danforth double to left-centerfield. Bemis was able to induce a fly-out to right field and a ground out to third to end the game. The junior right-hander struck out seven and walked three.

Castleton plated two runs in the second, two more in the third and one in the fifth. Zraunig singled, stole second and moved to third on a Heather Alley single to start things off in the second. A passed ball scored Zraunig and moved Alley to third before Lydia Mcpherson smacked a single to left that scored Alley. Sarah Flore singled home Amanda Gerstenmaier and came around to score on a Shannon Jipner ground out to make it 4-0 in the third. Castleton loaded the bases with nobody out in the fifth, but scored just the one run on a Bemis single.

Flore went 2-for-3 and Gerstenmaier scored a pair of runs as Castleton improves to 14-17 overall and advances to the NAC Tournament this weekend. The Spartans will take on top-seed Husson at 10:00 am on Friday morning in the opening round of the double-elimination tournament.

Lyndon State was led by Wilcox's 2-for-2 day at the plate. The Hornets' season ends at 8-19 overall.