New London, N.H. - The Castleton bats came alive against North Atlantic Conference opponent Colby-Sawyer as the Spartans notched a combined 28 hits over two games, downing the Chargers 9-6 and 14-0 on Thursday in New London.

The Spartan offensive was a well-balanced attack, with five players gathering three hits or more in the two games combined. Mat Pause went 5-for-8 with two RBI and three runs scored on the day, while Macyn Clifford, Matt McNamee, and Joe Borowski each mashed four hits apiece over the two games. Connor Hoagland finished with three hits, three RBI, and four runs scored on the day.

In game one, the Spartans' freshman hurler Cooper Long was touched up early, surrendering two runs in each the bottom of the first third innings to give the Chargers a 4-0 lead. The Spartan bats picked the freshman up, rallying for six runs in the top of the fifth to get Long off the hook. 

Mat Pause began the fifth inning rally with a leadoff single, followed by a Ryan Zielinski walk two batters later. Borowski ripped an RBI double before Hoagland drove in two with a single to right-center. McNamee followed with a double, and Hoagland scored on a wild pitch before Macyn Clifford ripped an RBI triple to the deepest part of the park. Clifford scored on an error by the right fielder to cap the rally, making the score 6-4.

Geoff Brisco entered in relief for the Spartans in the bottom of the fifth, but struggled with his control, walking the bases loaded. Staff ace Adam Greenlese made his first relief appearance of the year to get the Spartans out of the jam. The junior allowed one run to score on a wild pitch, before retiring Jeff Dunn on an infield fly to third base. Greenlese then forced Colby-Sawyer slugger Cameron Knight to ground into an inning-ending double play to end the threat and preserve Castleton's 6-5 lead.

The Spartans added a run in the top of the sixth on an RBI groundout from Hoagland, and scored two more insurance runs in the top of the seventh. Macyn Clifford led off the inning with his second triple of the game before Allen White cranked a home run over the right field fence, extending the Spartan lead to 9-5 entering the bottom of the 7th. 

Derek Osborne entered on the mound to close down the game for the Spartans, but ran into some trouble. After retiring the leadoff hitter, Osborne allowed two consecutive hits to put runners on second and third with one out. The hurler composed himself to retire the next two batters, allowing just one run and closing the game to give the Spartans the 9-6 win.

In game two, Castleton received a stellar pitching effort from sophomore Nate Swahn. In his first mound appearance of the season, Swahn tossed six innings of shutout baseball, allowing just five hits while fanning six Chargers. The performance was more than enough to give the Spartans the victory.

Castleton scored 14 runs on 13 hits, and all of them singles. In the top of the second, the squad jumped out to a 4-0 lead, scoring four runs on three hits, three walks, and an error. In the third, the Spartans piled onto their lead, notching three more runs. Pause and Zielinski each ripped RBI singles to put the squad up 7-0. 

The Spartans continued adding to their lead, scoring two runs apiece in the fourth and fifth innings. In the sixth, Castleton added three more to their total on RBI singles from Pause and McNamee, and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Borowski. 

Leading 14-0 entering the seventh, Swahn surrendered his place on the mound to freshman Ethan Hanson who retired the Chargers in order to end the game. 

With the doubleheader sweep, Castleton takes the season series with the Chargers 4-0, and improves to 19-7 on the season, 16-2 within the NAC. The Spartans will host Thomas (Maine) for a four-game series beginning with a doubleheader on Saturday, Apr. 20 with the regular season conference crown on the line.