Troutville, Va. – Castleton played even with its opponents early but gave up a number of runs in later innings as the Spartans fell 9-1 to Mount Aloysius and then 8-2 to Gettysburg on Thursday afternoon. 

In the opener the Spartans gave up a run in the top of the first but came back to tie it in the next frame. Chelsea Grady walked to open the inning and advanced to second on a passed ball. With two down she moved to third on a single by Ruby Bushey. Chelsea Crehan followed with an RBI single to left to make it 1-1. 

The score remained tied until the bottom of the fourth. A two-run homer pushed the Mounties in front 3-1 and they got two more unearned runs to finish the frame with a 5-1 advantage. 

Mount Aloysius added to its lead with four more runs in the bottom of the sixth to finish with the 9-1 win. 

Emily Sweeney took the loss, going 5.0 innings and giving up five earned runs while striking out a single batter. Brittany Brayman had a double and one of Castleton's five hits. 

In the nightcap the neither team was able to score until the third inning. Castleton got on the board in the bottom of the frame as Crehan led off with a single. She advanced to second on a sacrifice and Kristy Pinkham drove her home with an RBI single. Following a flyout, Kayla Daigle reached on an error, scoring Pinkham for the 2-0 lead. 

Senior Taylor Lively opened the top of the fourth strong, striking out the first two batters before giving up a solo home run. However, each of the next three batters reached, the last a double scoring two to give Gettysburg a 3-2 advantage.

An inning later the Bullets added four more to their total for the 7-2 lead. Gettysburg added one run in the top of the eighth for the 8-2 victory. 

Lively took the loss, giving up seven earned runs while striking out seven batters and walking four. The offense once again had four hits, with Grady recording the lone extra base hit with a double. 

Castleton drops to 0-6 on the season and returns to the field tomorrow, taking on Roanoke at 12 pm.