Castleton, VT – Freshman Taylor Lively (Greenfield, MA) pounded the strike zone throwing 72 strikes on 86 pitches while striking out eight batters to earn her second collegiate shutout in game one and Hilary Bemis (Crown Point, NY) pitched a complete game in game two as the Castleton State College softball team swept Maine-Farmington, 3-1 and 3-2, in North Atlantic Conference (NAC) action on Sunday afternoon.
Castleton donned pink uniforms and socks in support of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. The Spartans held a 50/50 Raffle, and sold T-Shirts with all proceeds benefitting the cause.
The Spartans move to 9-12 overall on the season and 2-2 in NAC play. The Beavers fall to 2-4 overall and 2-2 in the NAC.
In game one, Lively went the distance allowing six hits, no runs and no walks to improve to 3-2 overall on the season. Me.-Farmington starter Jessica Timmreck (Brunswick, ME) suffered the loss in the pitcher's duel on six innings, five hits, two earned runs, two walks and one strikeout.
After two-and-a-half scoreless innings of play, Mercedes Maltbie (Warrensburg, NY) broke open the pitcher's duel with a leadoff home run on the first pitch of the inning to deep left center field to give Castleton a 1-0 lead.
Catcher Stephanie Wright (Guilford, VT) pushed the Spartans ahead 2-0 in the bottom of the fourth inning driving home right fielder Abbey Hewes (Salt Lake City, UT) from second base with a two-out RBI single through the 5.5-hole.
The Beavers offense threatened in the top of the sixth inning as McKell Barnes (Durham, ME) led off the frame with a double to right center. Shannon Mitchell (Portsmouth, NH) followed with a single to center but Barnes was gunned down at home plate on a perfect throw by Caylee Fleury (Barre, VT) from centerfield to keep Me.-Farmington off the scoreboard.
Castleton continued to showcase the leather in the inning as Hewes robbed Lily Barry (Hermon, ME) of a base knock with a diving catch towards the infield. Lively punched out Samantha Morency (Lewiston, ME) to strand Mitchell at second and maintain the shutout.
For the Beavers offensively, Barnes and Mitchell both had multi-hit games going 2-for-3 at the plate.
In game two, Bemis gave up five hits, two earned runs, three walks and two strikeouts to push her record to 4-6 overall on the season. Whitney Page (Sorrento, ME) was dealt the loss on five innings pitched, allowing eight hits, three runs (two earned) no walks and no strikeouts.
After both offenses were held scoreless through three-and-a-half innings of play, Julie Benzenberg (Pine Bush, NY) ignited the Spartans' bats with a one-out double to the warning track in left center to put a runner in scoring position.
Rachel Dube (Newbury, VT) pinch-ran for Benzenberg and came around to score after Hewes reached first on an error giving Castleton a 1-0 lead.
The Spartans added two more runs in the bottom of the fifth as third baseman Shannon Jipner (Bristol, VT) found the left centerfield gap for a two-out two-run double for a 3-0 advantage.
Barry cut into Castleton's lead in the next half inning plating Barnes on an RBI triple to centerfield.
The Beavers made it interesting in the top of the seventh as Casandra Dyer (Freeport, ME) smashed an RBI double to deep centerfield cutting into the lead at 3-2. Dyer, representing the game-tying run at third with two outs, was stranded to end the game as right fielder Rachel Clement (Gray, ME) popped up to Blongy.
Blongy finished the contest going 3-for-3 at the plate with one run scored, Fleury went 2-for-3 and Maltbie went 2-for-3 out of the nine-hole for Castleton offensively.
Morency had the only multi-hit game for Me.-Farmington going 2-for-3 with one run scored.
Kaitlyn Bartlett (Chesterville, ME) finished out the game for the Beavers throwing one inning yielding two hits and one strikeout.
Castleton returns to action on April 13, at home, in a non-conference doubleheader against Plymouth St. with game one starting at 3:00 p.m.
