LITTLE RIVER, S.C. – Despite taking the season's first loss to Thiel, the Vermont State University Castleton softball team made a fourth-frame rally to take down Mount Aloysius and go 1-1 on Friday.
Alexis Rogers had a combined 5-for-6 day at the dish as Samera Rideout tallied three hits with a pair of RBIs; both recorded a triple. Abby Hacker chipped in her first two career base knocks while fellow rookie Mikayla Brightman logged her first career stolen base.
Game 1: Thiel 4, VTSU Castleton 2
Making her first appearance in the circle as a Spartan, Trista DeLong held the Tomcats to three runs in 5.0 innings of work and struck out two. Rogers pitched the sixth frame, recording all three outs via strikeout.
Thiel put three runs across with two outs in the bottom of the second stanza, creating a lead that remained untouched until the sixth. Almond reached on a walk as Rogers followed with triple deep to left field to score her. Madison Gould brought Rogers home in the next at-bat, slicing the gap to one.
In the Tomcats' half, a couple of walks put runners aboard and an RBI single scored one. Needing two runs to tie it, the Spartans went down in order to record a 4-2 setback.
Game 2: VTSU Castleton 4, Mount Aloysius 2
Gould got the nod after a stellar career debut on Thursday as the Whitehall, N.Y. native tacked on another victory in seven complete innings, punching out five with no walks while allowing two runs.
Castleton collected base hits in each of the first two frames, but it was the Mounties who went ahead first on a third-inning sacrifice fly. A line drive along the right field line helped MAC build a 2-0 advantage, but the Spartans had an answer in the bottom half of the fourth.
Maddie Wilson singled and pinch-running Brightman swiped second base as Hacker placed a ball into right center, putting Castleton on the corners. Brianna Belisle grounded to the middle infield to plate Brightman and place two aboard once again. With two outs, Rideout barrelled a triple through the left center gap, scoring both runners and eventually coming across herself as the Mounties were flagged for obstruction to make it 4-2.
Following a quick offensive fifth for MAC, Gould faced a bases-loaded, one-out scenario in the sixth. She finished the frame unscathed, orchestrating a fielder's choice to cut down the lead runner and forcing a grounder to Rideout. The Mounties were kept at bay in the seventh stanza to chalk up the Spartans' third triumph.
Castleton has back-to-back early matchups tomorrow (Saturday, March 16), lining up against SUNY Delhi at 9 a.m. and Mount St. Vincent at 11 a.m.
