MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – The Castleton softball team split Day 2 of their road trip in Myrtle Beach Friday afternoon, putting on an offensive showcase in a 23-6 win over Franciscan before falling 9-6 to Worcester State in their second game of the day.
Castleton 23, Franciscan 6
The Spartans (2-2) opened up the day by putting up 23 runs — their most since they scored 24 in 2016 — on 20 hits against the Barons, en route to the mercy-rule win. Castleton scored at least one run in each inning, highlighted by a 12-run outburst in the third in which they nearly batted around the lineup twice.
Katie Gallagher made the start in the circle, giving up six runs in 2.2 innings of work before
Alexandra Brouillette earned her first win of the season, throwing a near-perfect 2.1 innings in relief.
After falling behind 1-0 after the opening half inning, the Spartans put up four runs of their own in the home half.
Kate LaPan — who tallied her 100
th career hit in the win and was an impressive 3-3 on the day — got things going with a walk before stealing second. Two batters later,
Allison Almond scored the fifth-year senior with a single up the middle to tie the game. Consecutive hits from
Miranda Fish,
Alexis Rogers — who went a perfect 4-4 at the plate — and
Samera Rideout made it a 4-1 game after one.
Castleton added a run in the second, but a five-run third frame from Franciscan gave the Barons a 6-5 lead. That advantage would be short-lived, however, with the Spartans scoring 12 of their own in the inning.
Rogers got the rally started with an inside-the-park homerun, capitalizing on an error by Franciscan's outfield to round the bases and tie the game at six. Castleton hit through their lineup before a Fish flyout ended their on-base streak seven and set Rogers up with empty bases once again.
Continuing her red hot day, the freshman hit another single to left, and one at-bat later it was Rideout hitting the Spartans' first home run of the season to extend Castleton's lead to nine. A pair of RBIs that scored
Jess Heinrichs and
Kayla Fac rounded out an incredible stanza and put the Spartans ahead 17-6 after three.
Jordan Hill,
Madison Hanna, and
Masson Billert added themselves to the box score with runs in the fourth before RBIs from
Taylor Russell and Almond put Castleton well out of reach en route to the 23-6 win.
Castleton 6, Worcester State 9
Whereas Castleton put together a rally in the day's opening game, it was the Lancers scoring seven unanswered in the top of the sixth to take a six-run lead and eventually take the 9-6 victory in Friday's second contest.
Olivia Joy started in the circle for the Spartans, allowing two runs and fanning three across five innings before Heinrichs entered in relief and suffered her first loss of the season.
After a scoreless first two innings, Castleton took a 1-0 lead on an RBI double from Almond that scored
Hannah Mosher. Responding quickly, however, was Worcester State who scored two of their own in the top of the fourth to take a 2-1 lead. Continuing the back-and-forth affair, the Spartans scored a pair of their own in the fifth to retake a 3-2 lead before the Lancers' seven-run sixth put them ahead 9-3.
Behind six runs and down to their final three outs, the Spartans attempted to put together their own rally getting a trio of runs on a clutch double to right center from Fish, but their efforts fell short in the 9-6 defeat.
Castleton continues their road trip Saturday, March 18 with a doubleheader against SUNY Cortland kicking off at 10 a.m.
