FARMINGTON, Maine – Castleton finished its conference season this afternoon by completing a season sweep over the Maine-Farmington Beavers with back-to-back wins in a two-game set – 2-1 and 7-6 – at Hippach Field. 

The Spartans ended the conference season atop the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) standings with a 20-4 record after rolling off 11 straight victories to close out the year. Maine-Farmington, meanwhile, falls to 16-16 on the season and 9-13 in the conference. 

In game one, Luke Salerno turned in a solid outing, as he tossed a complete game with just one earned run and a season-high nine strikeouts to improve to 3-1 on the season. The Beavers' Riley Chickering was just as good with a complete game, three-hitter in the losing effort.

Dan Errico and Nate Swahn drove in the lone Spartans runs of the game, while Trevor Hisler led the UMF attack with two of the squad's six hits. 

Castleton got off to a quick start in the contest with two runs in the top of the first to grab an early lead. With two outs and Vile on second, Errico drove him home with an RBI single to score the first run of the game. Swahn followed with an RBI double to push the Spartans lead to two.

The Beavers found an answer in the bottom half of the frame, as they manufactured a run to close the gap back to one. Hilser and Sean Cabaniss led off the frame with back-to-back singles before Hisler was thrown out trying to go from first to third. Tom Grady then drove Cabaniss home with a double to make it 2-1.

However, UMF's offense was stifled from there, as Salerno tossed six consecutive scoreless frames to end the game and secure a Spartan, 2-1 victory.

In game two, Castleton was once again outhit, but managed to total seven runs while leaving just two runners on base to capture the four-game sweep over the Beavers.

Devin Hayes took a no-decision after tossing five innings with five earned runs, whereas Ethan Hanson gave up one run in one inning of relief to pick up his second win of the season. Kyle Peterson, meanwhile, took the loss following a two-run relief appearance. 

After two scoreless frames to start the game, the Spartans got on the scoreboard first in the top of the third to take a 5-0 lead. Taylor Vile took a bases loaded walk to plate the first run of the game, and Errico followed with a grand slam to straightaway center to give the away side a five-run lead.

UMF found an answer in the following half of the inning, as Dustin McCrossin knocked a two-run home run over the right field fence to make the score 5-2.

In the bottom of the fourth, the hosts brought the game back to level terms by scoring three times in the frame. Nick Attaliades-Ryan hit a two-run home run to right, and Hisler capped off the scoring with an RBI double to center to tie the ballgame at 5-5.

Castleton was able to break the deadlock in the top of the seventh to reclaim the lead. With a runner in scoring position, Dylan Watts sent a grounder to the right side of the infield that forced an error, allowing Nick Patierne to score the go-ahead run. Vile added an insurance run later in the frame with a RBI single to hand the away side a two-run lead. 

UMF scored once in the bottom of the seventh on a sacrifice fly, but TJ Fearon was able to close out the game for his fifth save of the year to give the Spartans a 7-6 victory.

The Spartans are back in action on Tuesday at 4 pm when they host Union (N.Y.) on Senior Day at Spartan Field.