CASTLETON, Vt. – The Castleton softball team wrapped up its regular season with a doubleheader against Western Connecticut Saturday afternoon, riding a pair of near-perfect outings in the circle to secure a pair of shutout wins and the four-seed in the upcoming LEC playoffs.
Castleton 5, WestConn 0
Celebrating her senior day,
Olivia Joy put on a show in the circle for the Spartans in Game 1, throwing her third complete-game shutout of the season, allowing just two hits and striking out a season-high eight batters in seven innings. At the plate, Castleton (18-14, 9-7 LEC) got a pair of hits from both
Hannah Mosher and
Alexis Rogers, with
Allison Almond bringing home a game-high two RBIs.
After a scoreless first inning, the Spartans opened up the scoring and never looked back with a pair of runs in the second.
Miranda Fish got things started with a single down the third-base line that ricocheted off the bag. On the ensuing at-bat, Rogers hit her first collegiate triple to score the graduate student, before crossing home plate herself on a sac fly from
Alexandra Brouillette to put Castleton up two.
Joy struck out the side in the top of the third, setting up Castleton to build on their own lead with an RBI bunt from Almond making it a 3-0 game. The Wolves (19-21, 4-12 LEC) tacked on their second and final hit of the game in the fourth before the Spartans added two more runs in the home half on runs scored by Brouillette and
Kayla Fac to put Castleton ahead 5-0.
With her side comfortably in the lead, Joy retired WestConn's next nine batters — ending the game on a highlight reel catch on a liner back toward the circle — to secure the Game 1 win.
Castleton 2, WestConn 0
Saturday's rematch was more tightly contested with the Spartans holding just a 5-4 advantage in hits en route to the two-run win.
Lauren Ross started in the circle, allowing three hits and fanning two across four innings to secure the win before Brouillette gave up just one hit across three innings in relief.
Mosher stayed hot at the plate going a perfect 3-3 — her .431 batting average in LEC games leads the conference — while Brouillette added another RBI to her season total.
Neither side created much offense in the opening inning before it was Castleton once again breaking the tie in the second. Rogers kicked off the inning with a double to left field, advancing to third on a sac bunt by Fish. With her teammate at third, Brouillette hit another deep ball that was caught but allowed Rogers to cross home plate to make it a 1-0 game.
The Wolves threatened to take the run back in the top of the third with a one-out double, but Ross forced a grounder for the second out before fanning her second batter of the afternoon to end the inning.
In the home half of the frame, Mosher stepped up to the plate with one out and hit a rifle to right center field. Turning the corner at second with speed, the graduate student forced an errant throw by the second baseman that would result in her scoring to double Castleton's lead.
WestConn nearly scored again in the fourth, but a laser from Fish in left field and a strong stand by Mosher at the plate kept the visitors off the board. Each side tallied a hit in the fifth before both going hitless the remainder of the game to hand the Spartans the 2-0 win and series sweep.
Next up for Castleton is the LEC Playoffs where they will face off against Rhode Island College in the first round Wednesday, May 10. First pitch is set for 12 p.m.
