CASTLETON, Vt. – The Castleton softball team combined to score 26 runs in their doubleheader against SUNY Canton Wednesday afternoon, winning Game 1 15-0 before clinching the series sweep with an 11-1 Game 2 victory
 
Playing in their annual Strike Out Cancer games, the Spartans dedicated the games to those who are battling or have lost their lives to cancer, with all proceeds going toward the American Cancer Society and Making Strides of Southern Vermont.
 
Castleton 15, SUNY Canton 0
 
The Spartans (16-12, 7-5 LEC) put together one of their most dominant performances of the season in Game 1, scoring 15 runs on nine hits en route to a mercy-rule win. Hannah Mosher led Castleton at the plate, going a perfect 3-3 to go along with three RBIs, while Allison Almond and Madison Wilson also tallied multi-hit days. Lauren Ross made her second career start in the circle, pitching a complete-game shutout in which she allowed just three hits and fanned four across five innings.
 
The Spartans opened up Game 1 with a four-run first inning and never looked back, tallying their second highest run total of the season. Mosher and Almond drew leadoff walks to start the game, setting up Samera Rideout to hit an RBI double that would score Mosher and keep two runners in scoring position.
 
A sacrifice fly by Miranda Fish brought Almond across home plate and move Rideout to third before Wilson ripped her first double of the season to make it a 3-0 game. Castleton tacked on their fourth run of the inning on an error by the Roos' (2-24, 0-9 NAC) shortstop that scored Wilson to put the Spartans ahead four after one.
 
Castleton doubled their lead in the second, kicking things off with a solo shot to right field by Mosher. The homerun was the graduate student's fourth of the season, extending her career-high mark and ranking fourth in the LEC.
 
A fielder's choice scored Almond after the junior, Rideout, and Alexis Rogers reached base consecutively, before a walk drawn by Dana Elkins and sac fly from Jess Heinrichs made it an 8-0 game.
 
SUNY Canton threatened to cut into the lead in the top of the third with runners on the corners, but a routine flyout handled by Heinrichs kept them off the board. Instead, it was the Spartans tacking on seven runs in the home half to put the game well out of reach.
 
For the third straight inning, Mosher got things started once again with a well-executed bunt back to the circle to put her on base. Almond singled up the middle before an error put Rideout on first to load the bases.
 
Kayleigh Osterhaudt started the scoring rally by bringing home her first collegiate RBI on a sac fly to center that scored Mosher. Wilson continued her solid day with a single to the shortstop that scored Almond before Elkins secured her second RBI of the game with a groundout to short.
 
An error to the same spot kept the inning alive and gave Heinrichs her third RBI of the afternoon before Kayla Fac loaded the bases once again with a single throught the left side. Having batted through the order, Mosher stayed hot with a single to right center that scored Wilson and Heinrichs, with an RBI single from Almond putting the Spartans ahead 15 runs before the inning finally ended.
 
After a roaring start to the game, each side shored up on the defensive end, not allowing a hit in the final inning and a half to force the run rule and end Game 1 with Castleton up 15-0.
 
Castleton 11, SUNY Canton 1
 
The script for Game 2 was very similar to that of the first, with the Spartans taking the lead early and never looking back in their second mercy-rule win of the afternoon. Four different Castleton players had multiple hits in the game, paced by freshmen Rideout and Osterhaudt going a perfect 3-3 with three doubles apiece. In the circle, Katie Gallagher made her fourth start of the season, allowing just one run on three hits and striking out a career-high six across five innings.
 
Mosher, who went a combined 5-6 on the day, started the game with a leadoff triple, scoring on the next at-bat from an RBI single by Almond. After the junior stole second, a double to left center by Rideout scored her to double the Spartans' lead. A walk drawn by Fish put two runners on and set up Osterhaudt to hit a two-bagger of her own to make it 4-0 one inning in.
 
After a scoreless second inning, Castleton blew open the game once again in the third, scoring seven runs to take the commanding lead. Osterhaudt opened the inning with a double to center field, scoring on Sydney Miller's first hit of the day to make it 5-0. Erin Ricks drew a one-out walk before Jordan Hill nabbed her first collegiate hit and RBI on a single up the middle that scored Miller.
 
Riding momentum, Mosher ripped a two-RBI double to left before another single from Almond put runners at the corner. With one double in the game already, Rideout doubled her tally with another two-bagger that scored Mosher and Almond to put the Spartans up 10. Amanda Vaughn entered the game as a pinch runner and crossed home plate for the second time on yet another RBI double from Osterhaudt that nearly cleared the fence. When all was said and done Castleton had put together a seven-hit, seven-run inning that put them ahead 11-0.
 
The Roos put together a rally of their own in the top of the fourth, scoring their lone run of the afternoon in the frame, before both teams were held hitless in the final two half-innings, earning the Spartans the 11-1 win and series sweep.
 
Castleton returns to the field Saturday, April 29 when they face off against Southern Maine in LEC action, with first pitch of the doubleheader set for 12 p.m.