DANBURY, Conn. -- The Castleton University baseball team earned its first sweep of the season, defeating Western Connecticut State Monday afternoon at Westside Field.
 
Castleton 10, Western Connecticut State 4
 
After a scoreless first frame, the Spartans (8-8, 6-3 LEC) jumped ahead and took a 1-0 lead in the top half of the second inning. Adam Newton led off the inning with a double to left-center field and advanced to third base on an Addison Schaub sacrifice bunt. Newton later scored to give the Spartans an early advantage as Jarrett Williams grounded out to second base.  
 
The Colonials (1-8, 1-8 LEC) rebounded quickly and tied the game in the bottom half of the second inning. With a runner aboard, Joe Gambino ripped an RBI double to right-center to knot the game up at a run apiece.  
 
Max Olmsted earned his first win of the season for the Spartans as he pitched eight strong innings. The senior from East Montpelier, Vt. tallied a career-high 10 strikeouts while only allowing three earned runs on nine hits.
 
The Spartans regained the lead in the top half of the third inning as Armando Cardenas scored on a sacrifice fly as Ryan Lawrence flew out to center field.
 
As the Spartans held the lead for the next two innings, the Colonials tied the game in the bottom half of the fifth inning. Gambino led off the inning with a single to right field and later advanced to second base on a failed pickoff attempt. Gambino scored two batters later as Moe Echevarria singled through the right side of the infield, tying the game at two.
 
The Spartans regained the lead shortly after as Newton came through with an RBI single. Hunter Perkins led off the inning with a single to left field and advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt from Reece de Castro. After Evan Keegan walked, Newton punched a single to left field, scoring Perkins to give the Spartans a 3-2 lead.
 
Insurance runs came in the top half of the eighth inning as the Spartans pulled away, scoring five runs to take a commanding 8-2 lead. The Spartans started off the inning with two straight singles from Perkins and de Castro, followed by a Keegan hit by pitch. With the bases loaded and no outs recorded, Schaub singled to left field to give the Spartans a 4-2 advantage. After Williams recorded an RBI with a hit by pitch, Cardenas sent a single up the middle, scoring both Newton and Schaub.
 
The Colonials clawed back and cut the deficit in half, scoring two runs in the bottom half of the eighth inning. Zach Edwards scored on a wild pitch, and Max Gregory later scored on a Chris Ehlers sacrifice fly-out.
 
The Spartans solidified the victory, scoring two more runs in the top half of the ninth inning. De Castro scored as Newton tallied his second RBI of the game on a sacrifice fly, while Schaub later scored the Spartans' final run on a Williams RBI single to right field.
 
Castleton 7, Western Connecticut State 3
 
The Spartans took an early lead in the top half of the first inning as Perkins tallied a leadoff double to right-center field. Perkins, who tallied three hits in the two-game series, later scored as de Castro reached base on a throwing error from the third baseman. De Castro later scored to give the Spartans a 2-0 lead as Newton tallied an RBI fly out.
 
The Colonials tied the game in the bottom half of the second inning as Gambino tallied an RBI single to left field, and Echevarria later earned a walk with the bases loaded, tying the game at two.
 
After a de Castro ground out to start the top of the third inning, the Spartans tallied four runs to take a commanding 6-2 lead. With three runners on the basepath, Nathan Kelley picked up his first RBI of the season as he earned a bases-loaded walk to give the Spartans a 3-2 lead. Two more runs were plated as Cardenas followed with an infield RBI single and Kelley scored on a balk from pitcher Pauly DiPaterio.
 
Both teams were held without a run until the bottom half of the eighth inning as the Colonials cut the Spartans' lead in half. After Logan Terry walked and Ehlers reached on a fielding error, Gambino tallied a single through the left side of the infield, scoring Terry to cut the lead to 6-3.
 
The Spartans solidified the win in the top half of the ninth inning as Newton led off the inning with a single to left field. Newton, who tallied five hits in the doubleheader, tallied a career-high four RBIs in the two games against the Colonials. Newton scored during the next at-bat as Schaub doubled to center field to give the Spartans a 7-3 advantage.
 
Richard Walker earned the start of the Spartans and recorded his second win of the season. The senior from Swanton, Vt. pitched six strong innings, allowing two runs on five hits and tallied four strikeouts.
 
Castleton returns to action Friday, April 23, as it travels to Providence, R.I. to take on Rhode Island College in a Little East Conference doubleheader starting at noon.