CASTLETON, Vt. – Lone senior Tori Fearon ripped triple in her first at-bat on senior day as Castleton scored 20 runs total, sweeping New England College 14-5 and 6-0 on a chilly Sunday afternoon. 

Fearon finished the opening game 2-for-3 with three runs scored and added a run in the second game from her No. 2 spot in the order. Sophomore Jessica Babcock had two hits in both games while scoring three times and driving in four runs on the afternoon. Stephanie Sylvester added four hits on the day as well. 

Freshman Cassidy Tedeschi earned her first career win in the opener by going 4.0 innings and allowing three runs while striking out three. Castleton, meanwhile, improves to 11-13 overall with the win and 9-3 in the North Atlantic Conference. New England College drops to 10-18 overall and 2-12 in the NAC with the losses. 

Tedeschi gave up two runs in the top of the first but the offense responded in the bottom of the frame. Fearon ripped a one-out triple to the wall in centerfield and scored on a two-out fielding error by the shortstop. Chelsea Grady followed, and with two runners on, belted a home run over the left-center fence to give the Spartans a 4-2 lead. 

Castleton added four more runs in the second for an 8-2 lead. Brooke Naylor led off with a double and Ruby Bushey singled her home. Kristi Lawless singled and Fearon was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Babcock followed with a sacrifice fly and two batters later Sylvester drove in two runs with a single. 

New England College cut into the lead in the top of the fourth as Christina Rubiano led off with a double and then stole third. She scored on a sacrifice fly to make it an 8-3 contest. 

The Spartans responded in the bottom of the frame as Fearon singled through the right side with one out. Babcock then ripped a home run to center field. Brittany Brayman followed with a single and she came around to score on a double by Grady for the 11-3 advantage. 

The Pilgrims scored twice in the top of the fifth, once on a wild pitch and the second on a groundout to shortstop to make it an 11-5 ballgame. 

Castleton once again countered in the bottom of the inning as Lawless led off with a single to center. With runners on first and third with one out, Brayman lofted a sacrifice fly, scoring Lawless. Grady then ended the game with a two-run double to center for 14-5 final. 

In the second game, the Spartans struck first. Lawless led off with a single and came around to score on a triple to the right-center gap by Babcock. She scored on a single by Brayman and Sylvester followed with a double down the right field line to push the Castleton lead to 3-0. Two batters later Katie Gagne hit a double to the center field wall, scoring Sylvester. 

Castleton added to its lead in the bottom of the second. The Spartans loaded the bases with one out and Brayman scored Kayla Daigle for the 5-0 advantage. One more run in the third pushed the lead to 6-0. 

Freshman Veronica Arnone finished off NEC in top of the fourth before being relieved by classmate Kayla Wood in the fifth. Wood allowed four hits in 3.0 innings of relief while striking out four and walking one. Arnone improved to 4-1 on the year with the victory. 

The Spartans look to secure the second seed in the upcoming NAC Tournament when they host Lyndon St. on Tuesday for a doubleheader starting at 3 pm.