CASTLETON, Vt. – Castleton State College split a North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) East Division doubleheader with Thomas College Saturday afternoon, falling in game one 4-1 and bouncing back with a 13-4 rain-shortened win in game two.

With the split, Castleton now stands at 14-16 overall and 8-4 in conference play. The Spartans now stand alone in second place, one game ahead of the Terriers (10-19, 7-5).

Terrier starter Jake Chamblee (South Berwick, Maine) out-dueled Castleton's Tyler Erickson (Naugatuck, Conn.) in the opener, earning a complete-game win to improve to 3-1. Chamblee allowed one earned run on six hits and two walks, while striking out five.

Erickson (3-3) went the distance in the loss, allowing four earned on nine hits and a walk with eight strikeouts.

Shawn McKeen (Brown Mill, N.J.) put the Terriers on the board with a two-out, two-run home run to left field. Erickson retired the first two batters of the inning with minimal effort, but Josh Nickerson (Stockton Springs, Maine) extended the frame with a single that deflected off Erickson and fell in no-man's land between the mound and first base.

Castleton appeared to be putting together a big inning of its own in the bottom half, but Terrier centerfielder Cody Vigue (Skowhegan, Maine) had other plans. Zak Mayo (Avon, Conn.) led off with a single to center, but was erased when Vigue gunned him down trying to stretch it into a double. Aaron Zrenda (East Lyme, Conn.) doubled down the left field line on the very next pitch, and Pete Wagner (Brattleboro, Vt.) laced a single to center two batters later, but Vigue fired a strike to home plate to cut down Zrenda and extinguish the rally.

Thomas pushed another run across in the fourth on an RBI-double to left-center from Josh Gray, and Castleton grabbed a run in the bottom half on an RBI-single from Zrenda.

Castleton had the bases loaded with one out in the bottom of the sixth, but Chamblee was able to induce an inning-ending double play, and the Terriers tacked on an insurance run in the seventh.

In the nightcap Seth Harrington (Bennington, Vt.) earned the win for the Spartans, going six innings and allowing four runs on four hits and four walks. Harrington struck out seven to improve to 3-2, and faced the minimum through three innings before running into trouble in the fourth.

Vigue drew a leadoff walk and moved to second on a wild pitch. Jeff Richardson (Rochester, N.H.) then ground one deep in the hole between shortstop and third base. Zrenda made a nice play going to the backhand to keep it on the infield, but Richardson beat the throw to first for an infield single. Ben Goodall (Norway, Maine) walked to load the bases and Rob Nutter (Kennebunk, Maine) deposited the first pitch he saw over the left field fence for a grand slam. Harrington settled in and struck out six of the last 11 batters he faced to finish off the win.

Castleton received plenty of offense, plating two runs in the first, five in the third and six in the fifth to put the game away. Mayo went 2-for-4 with a two-run triple and two runs scored, while Wagner smacked a two-run double and had three RBI. Eisenhuth and Joe Borowski (Schenectady, N.Y.) each collected a pair of hits in the win.

The Spartans return to action on Tuesday when they play host to Middlebury at 4 p.m. Thomas will travel to Bates Monday for a 4 p.m. non-league match up.