CASTLETON, Vt. – The Castleton softball team returns to the diamond on Tuesday afternoon, traveling to Rensselaer for a non-conference doubleheader with first pitch slated for 3 p.m.

The Spartans enter the twin bill with a 7-3 record overall after splitting a pair of games with New England College last time out. Castleton bounced back from a game-one loss with a 6-4 victory in the back end of the doubleheader. The Spartans' win extended their streak to 22 games without dropping back-to-back contests—a streak started after dropping a pair of games to RPI a season ago.

Tori Swaine leads the team with a .353 batting average thus far, racking up 12 hits in 10 games. She has been held hitless just twice all season, and has multiple hits in four different games to date. Timi Carone—the reigning North Atlantic Conference Player of the Week—leads Castleton with 14 hits and ranks second with a .350 average after going 4-for-8 over the weekend out of the leadoff spot. Her 11 RBIs and four steals also lead the team. McKinlie Carpenter is off to a hot start, raising her average to .308 after recording hits in three of the last four games. Karli Theberge leads the team with three extra-base hits on two doubles and one triple, while Sara Baker clubbed the only home run of the season for the Spartans against Skidmore. Baker also leads the team with 11 runs scored.

Taylor Paquette has been dominant in the circle thus far, tossing a team-leading 35.0 innings with a perfect 5-0 record. Named NAC Pitcher of the Week for her performance against NEC, Paquette has allowed just eight earned runs this season and is averaging just 1.03 base runners against per inning. She has four complete games under her belt, going the distance in all four of her starts this season. Kayla Wood looks to round into her form of years past, as the senior enters the day with a 2-3 record and 3.68 ERA. Wood has gone 32.1 innings this season, striking out 11 batters along the way with three complete games.

RPI enters the twin bill with a 12-4 mark overall three of its last four contests. Most recently, the Engineers swept St. Lawrence, 10-2 and 8-0, in shortened contests due to the eight-run rule. RPI has been a model of consistency, stringing together 15 consecutive winning seasons dating back to the 2002 season.

Stephanie Caudle leads the way with a .420 batting average for the Engineers' offense, registering 21 hits including four home runs. The senior as a team-best 24 RBIs, and has six doubles to her name as well—second most on the team. Devan Puhl comes into the day batting .411 and leads the squad with 23 hits. Her seven doubles are most on the team. Victoria Greco leads RPI with 16 runs scored, while Cam Caswell and Rebecca Kienz have 14 and 11 runs scored, respectively. The Engineers are active on the base paths, as the team is 25-for-27 in stolen base attempts this season.

Not only has Caudle been one of RPI's top performers at the plate, she has shined in the circle as well with a 5-1 record and 2.33 ERA in 11 appearances. She leads the team with five complete games, and has 47 strikeouts in 48.0 innings of work. Jaime Cleasby has a 2.67 ERA and 5-2 record in 39.1 innings, while Sarah Harms has gone 2-1 with a 2.85 ERA in 19.1 innings of work.

Castleton hasn't beaten Rensselaer since the 2012 season, when it picked up a 6-3 win at Spartan Field over the Engineers. RPI took both ends of the doubleheader at Spartan Field a season ago, tying the game in the seventh inning before taking the lead with a home run in the eighth to win game one, 4-3. The Engineers then took game two, 4-0.