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Box Score 2 CASTLETON, Vt. - Junior Ruby Bushey beat a throw to home with a headfirst slide in the bottom of the 12th inning to give the Spartans a dramatic 3-2 victory over Plymouth St. and secure a split with the Panthers after dropping the first game of the day by a 5-2 margin.
Tied 2-2 in the bottom of the 12th, Bushey was placed on second to start the inning in accordance with softball's tiebreaker rule. Senior Stephanie Sylvester led off the frame and on her second pitch put a bunt down right in front of the plate. The defense fielded it and tried to throw it to first but the ball hit Sylvester in the back and trickled into foul territory, allowing Bushey to head for home for the winning run.
The marathon second game featured five pitchers, including Kayla Wood who earned the win by tossing five innings of scoreless extra inning relief with just three hits allowed and five strikeouts. Allison Moylan took the loss though she didn't give up a hit in 1.0 inning of work. Plymouth St. starter Jessica Pieterson tossed over 130 pitches went 10.0 innings in a no decision, striking out four and walking four.
Senior Kayla Daigle went 3-for-3 in the second game and finished the day 4-for-4 with three walks and two RBI. Bushey added three hits on the day and a pair of runs while Timi Carone recorded two hits in the opener.
In the first game of the day, Kim Leiter led off the top of the first with a walk and stole second and third before scoring on a groundout for the 1-0 advantage. One inning later Plymouth St. added to its lead as Cynthia Barata doubled and Jessica Peterson was able to score on a poor cut off throw to the infield.
Castleton responded in the bottom of the second inning as Katie Gagne led off with a single that dribbled down the third base line. She advanced to second on a single by Bushey and third on a bunt single by Carone. Daigle then drove Gagne home to cut it to 2-1.
The Panthers extended their lead to 3-1 in the fourth when Rachel Morrissey singled home Emma Rhodes.
The Spartans got a run back in the bottom of the frame to trim the deficit to 2-1. Carone put a single through the left side, plating Bushey. Daigle then bunted Carone to second and the freshman proceeded to steal third before being stranded.
Plymouth made it 4-2 in the fifth on a solo home run by Abrie Davis and extended the lead to 5-2 in the sixth.
In the bottom of the frame Gagne led off with a double and Bushey singled to put runners on the corners. Bushey advanced to second on a groundout but Castleton was unable to put a run across.
The Spartans then went down in order in the last of the seventh for the 5-2 final. Cassidy Tedeschi took the loss after going 5.2 innings with three earned runs and two strikeouts. Whitney Roberts went 7.0 innings for the win with two walks and six strikeouts.
Gagne started the second game and she kept the Panthers off the board in her 5.0 innings of work, allowing just two hits with three walks and three strikeouts. Pietersen was equally impressive.
Plymouth St. nearly scored in the top of the seventh inning as Julia Royer singled and her pinch runner advanced all the way to third on an errant throw with one out. However, with runners on second and third with one down, reliever Taylor Paquette struck out Kim Leiter swinging and then induced a popup to get out of the inning.
Castleton couldn't end it in the bottom of the frame, and in the eighth the Panthers took a 1-0 lead on a single by Taylor Wood to right center.
Sami Carlo led off the bottom of the inning with a sacrifice bunt to move the runner to third base and after a strikeout, Daigle came up with a clutch single to right center to tie it 1-1.
Plymouth St. added a run in the ninth on a sacrifice fly, but couldn't get anymore as Pieterson was thrown out trying to advance to third on the play for the final out. The Spartans responded with a leadoff double from Brayman, scoring Babcock to even it up 2-2, but the junior was stranded on second.
In the 11th, the Panthers nearly took a lead with runners on second and third with no outs. However, Castleton got an out at home and then Wood struck out consecutive batters to end the threat. The Spartans put runners on second and third in the bottom of the frame with one out but back-to-back groundouts sent the game to the 12th.
Plymouth St. had runners on second and third in the 12th with one out but Wood inducted consecutive groundouts to get out of trouble, setting up the late game heroics from Bushey.
Castleton moves to 8-6 overall with the split while the Panthers go to 4-11. The Spartans return to action tomorrow for a doubleheader against Lyndon at 2 pm.
