Saratoga Springs, N.Y. – Pitching and defense were the difference as the Spartans nearly pulled off a sweep on Wednesday before settling for a spit, beating Skidmore 3-2 to open the day and then falling 2-1 in the nightcap.
Castleton received a number of strong pitching performances on the day as the quartet of Kayla Wood, Veronica Arnone, Katie Gagne and Cassidy Tedeschi allowed two earned runs over 13.0 innings of action while striking out 10 batters. Arnone earned the win in game one as she pitched the final 3.0 innings striking out two and walking a pair. Gagne took the loss in the second contest as she tossed 4.0 innings with three strikeouts and one earned run.
Offensively the team recorded 12 hits between the two contests as the Spartans moved to 1-3 on the year. Jessica Babcock recorded two hits, one run and one RBI while Arnone blasted a two-run shot in the opener. Kristi Lawless finished 4-for-7 on the day.
Neither team was able to get on the board until the bottom of the third inning. Kayla Daigle led off the frame with a walk and Lawless followed with a single that she tried to stretch into a double, but was thrown out. Babcock tripled home Daigle, but was stranded on third.
Skidmore responded in the top of the fourth Abby Shea reached on an error and then advanced to second. She scored on a single to centerfield by Lauren Fortunato and Brittany Osborn walked to put runners on first and second. Wood was able to get Fortunato our on a force at third and then induced a pop-up to get out of the inning.
In the top of the sixth, Arnone came in on relief and promptly sent Skidmore down in order. The freshman helped her own cause in the bottom of the frame, belting a two-run homer with two outs to put Castleton in front 3-1.
Skidmore came back with a run in the top of the seventh off a double, wild pitch and sacrifice fly, to make it 3-2. However, Arnone was able to get a foul out to short and a swinging strikeout to finish off the game.
In the second game the Thoroughbreds opened up the scoring as Fortunato led off the game with a triple and scored on a throwing error for the 1-0 lead. However, starter Katie Gagne settled down and went through the next two innings in order.
Following a quiet third, Skidmore added to their lead in the fourth on a pair of Spartan errors. Castleton came back in the bottom of frame as Babcock led off with a walk. Brittany Brayman followed with a single and the two runners advanced on a passed ball. Chelsea Grady singled home Babcock to make it 2-1, but a groundout and consecutive strikeouts ended the threat.
The Spartans made it interesting in the last of the seventh as Cassidy Auger drew a one-out walk. However, Wood hit into a 6-4-3 double play as the comeback fell just short.
Castleton returns to action tomorrow when the team travels to face RPI for a doubleheader beginning at 3 pm.
