DANBURY, Conn. – The Vermont State University Castleton softball team recorded its third Little East Conference doubleheader split at WestConn on Saturday, winning 8-7 before falling 5-4 in extra innings.
Alexis Rogers led the Spartans' (14-14, 3-7 LEC) 20-hit offense with five knocks as Brianna Belisle and Samera Rideout each collected three hits and drove in two runs. VTSU Castleton's three extra-base hits came from doubles by Rideout and Mikayla Brightman as well as a two-run homer off the bat of Allie Almond. Rookies Madison Gould and Abby Hacker chipped in a couple of hits while sophomores Taylor Russell and Masson Billert rounded out the lineup with one hit apiece.
Game 1: VTSU Castleton 8, WestConn 7
In the circle, Gould weathered a late rally by the Wolves (14-20, 6-8 LEC) in a complete game with three strikeouts to improve to 9-6 on the year.
The Spartans' bats began to click in the top of the second with a leadoff single by Rogers. Russell dropped a sacrifice bunt and Billert grounded to the pitcher, sending Rogers to third. Gould executed a two-out single to center field to provide Castleton with the go-ahead run. Brightman drew a walk as Hacker tacked on an infield single which loaded the bases. A dribbler up the foul line from Belisle was too slow for the WestConn defense to make a play, plating Gould for a 2-0 Castleton edge.
Rideout opened the third stanza by reaching on a single through the left side. Rogers followed with a sharply-hit ball up the middle that shortstop Charline Plasczynski dove and halted, but her toss to second base was too late to retire Rideout. Russell gave herself up again to put two runners in scoring position with one away, sending Billert to the plate whose RBI groundout extended the advantage to three.
While Gould continued to cruise through the WestConn lineup, the Spartan bats remained active in the fourth. Brightman rocketed a double to the left-center gap as Hacker's sac bunt put her 60 feet from paydirt. Belisle stepped into the batter's box and pulled a grounder to second base, giving Brightman plenty of time to score the Spartans' fourth run. The Wolves committed an error and failed to beat Almond in a fielder's choice ball from Rideout. Rogers and Russell went back-to-back with RBI singles, stretching the lead to 6-0 midway through four.
WestConn banged on the door in the bottom half of the frame, putting three Wolves on base but Almond hauled in a line drive to extinguish the threat. However, the hosts were able to cut the deficit to five after getting one back on an RBI double in the fifth inning.
Belisle started the sixth with a base knock and sprinted to second moments later on a wild pitch. Staring down a full count, Almond whipped the pay-off pitch deep to left field for her second blast of the year.
Lindsay Farinaccio matched Almond's homer down the line with a blast of her own to lead off the Wolves' half. WestConn erupted with six hits and used strong baserunning to bring six runs across, narrowing the Spartan lead to 8-7.
The final inning commenced with a Billert single, but the Wolves induced three consecutive outs to return for their last offensive stand. Gould drew a fly out and caught the next batter swinging, but a double to the center-field fence put the tying run in scoring position. A foul ball was lifted toward first base as Rideout made the grab, securing a key LEC win.
Game 2: WestConn 5, VTSU Castleton 4
Katie Gallagher started the series finale and went 5.2 innings, giving up just one earned run while tallying a strikeout. In relief, Trista DeLong fanned three and stranded eight Wolves on the basepaths during her 2.2 frames of work.
WestConn was first on the scoreboard in the bottom of the first inning after nabbing a leadoff walk and two hits.
The Spartans threatened with a third-inning rally as Hacker and Almond reached, sliding up a base on a wild pitch before the Wolves got the third out to remain unscathed.
In the home half of the fourth, WestConn also surged with two away while making an array of offensive substitutions. The hosts put three on, but Gallagher forced a foul out to navigate out of the jam.
Beginning to run out of time, the Spartans made their move with a sixth-frame flurry. Belisle singled and Almond grounded up the middle, but a WestConn miscue resulted in both runners reaching safely. Rideout delivered on the prime scoring opportunity with a double to right-center, plating the two Spartans to overtake the Wolves at 2-1. Jordan Hill pinch-ran and Rogers moved her to third on a single. For the third time of the day, Russell sacrificed as her squeeze bunt opened the window for Hill to score. Gould added an RBI knock two batters later to end the half favoring Castleton, 4-1.
The Wolves donned their rally caps and went on a five-hit tear, knotting the ballgame at 4-4. DeLong entered with two aboard, ushering a walk before picking up a K to enter the seventh tied.
While the Spartans were retired in order, WestConn found a rhythm again to put the winning run on third base with no outs. DeLong snared a strikeout and drew back-to-back outs with bases loaded as extra innings commenced.
Both squads saw runners get stranded at third base in the eighth inning. Hacker powered a single through the middle in the visiting half of the ninth but the offense was halted there. Down to their final two outs with loaded bases, the Wolves walked it off on a Rachael Ushka single to the left side.
The Spartans continue their LEC slate at Plymouth State on Tuesday, April 30 for a doubleheader starting at 3:30 p.m.
