KEENE, N.H. – Castleton belted three home runs and scored 17 total runs to earn a sweep over Keene St. on Sunday, winning 8-3 and 9-1. 

Katie Gagne secured the win in the opener by going 4.0 innings and giving up three earned runs on six hits without walking a batter. Gagne added a pair of hits while Ruby Bushey drove in four runs. In the second game, Brittany Brayman went 4-for-5 with five RBI to pace the offense. 

Castleton jumped on Keene St. for five runs in the opening inning of the first game. Each of the first three batters reached and Gagne came through with a one-out single to give the Spartans a 1-0 lead. Bushey followed with a grand slam to centerfield, extending the lead to 5-0. 

The Owls got a run back in the bottom of the frame on an RBI single but Gagne induced back-to-back groundouts to get out of the inning. 

Neither team scored against until the fourth inning. Timi Carone led off with a double and Kristi Lawless reached on an error, scoring Carone for the 6-1 advantage. Later in the inning the Spartans loaded the bases and Chelsea Grady drove in a run on a fielder's choice. Gagne followed with an RBI single to extend the lead to 8-1. 

Keene St. countered with a pair of runs on two-run home run by Aliza Guerrero. Gagne got out of the frame and reliever Kayla Wood allowed just three hits over the final three innings to earn the save.

It was Keene State who opened the scoring in the second game, as Stephanie Long again led off the KSC first with a single and stole second. Jen Galavotti followed with an RBI single up the middle that gave the Owls a 1-0 lead. 

Castleton tied the game in the third as Sami Carlo walked and eventually scored on Brittany Brayman's single.  

KSC had a golden chance to take the lead back in the bottom of the third, as three consecutive singles loaded the bases with one out, but the Taylor Paquette got a strikeout and inducted a grounder to get out of trouble. 

The Spartans then scored three times in the top of the fourth on a bases-loaded walk to Babcock and a 2-RBI hit from Brayman to extend the lead to 4-1. 

Back-to-back home runs from Bushey and Carone in the fifth extended the lead to 6-1, and Castleton scored a single run in the sixth on a bases-loaded walk by Chelsea Grady. 

The Spartans added more runs in the seventh on a Brayman two-run double for the 9-1 final. 

Wood earned the win, by going the final four innings and allowing just two hits while striking out three. Paquette went the first 3.0 innings and gave up one earned run while striking out two. 

Castleton returns to action on Wednesday when the team hosts Johnson St. in a doubleheader starting at 3 pm.