Courtesy of: Skidmore Sports Information

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The Castleton State College softball team earned a split in Wednesday's non-league doubleheader against Skidmore at Thoroughbred Field. The Spartans took the opener, 3-2 and the Thoroughbreds exploded for 12 runs in game two, winning 12-1 in five innings.

Skidmore is now 3-9 on the season, while Castleton is 4-6.

The Thoroughbreds struck first in the opener as Molly Canavan (Blue Bell, Pa.) drew a walk with two outs in the bottom of the third and then scored on Carol Brown's (Seattle, Wash.) double to make it 1-0.

The Spartans answered right back in the top of the fourth as Shannon Jipner's two-out RBI double scored Mercedes Maltbie to tie it up at 1-1.

In the bottom of the sixth, Skidmore took the lead back when Caitlin Ketcham (North Clarendon, Vt.) beat out the throw to the play on Julia Schwartz's (Bryn Mawr, Pa.) ground ball to make it 2-1.  But Castleton answered back once again in the top of the seventh.  After loading the bases with two outs, Tori Fearon singled to center, scoring two for the eventual game-winning hit as the Spartans took the opener, 3-2.

Taylor Lively picked up the win, allowing two runs (one earned) on 3 hits, while striking out nine in the complete game effort.

Sam Crose (Assonet, Mass.) took the loss for the Thoroughbreds, despite just allowing three earned runs and striking out 10 in seven innings of work.

In the nightcap, the Skidmore bats came alive.  Brown scored the first run of the game on a Ketcham sacrifice fly in the first.  Castleton tied it up on Caylee Fleury's RBI single in the third, but that would be the only run the Spartans could push across.

In the bottom half of the third, the Thoroughbreds scored seven runs on six hits highlighted by a pair of two-RBI singles from Cora Crafts (Gliford, N.H.) and Christina Gargiso (Staten Island, N.Y.).  Skidmore added four more runs in the fourth as freshman Katie Peverada (Hampden, Maine) provided the spark with a two-RBI double.

Abby Fuhrman (Amherst, Mass.) shut the door in the fifth to secure the win and the split.  Fuhrman picked up the win, allowing one run on three hits in five innings of work. 

Emily Sweeney took the loss for Castleton, allowing eight runs (six earned) in three innings of work.

Gargiso and Brown each finished with three RBI on the day for the Thoroughbreds.  For the Spartans, Megan Blongy went 4-for-4 in the opener with four singles.