The Middlebury softball team (12-6, 3-3) split a pair of NESCAC West games with Hamilton (9-12, 4-3) on Saturday, winning game one 9-1 in five innings before falling in the nightcap, 6-2. The games were played at Utica College with game three slated for the Hamilton campus at 12:00 p.m. on Sunday.

Middlebury led 3-1 in game one before exploding for six runs in the fifth inning, all of them unearned. Carlyn Vachow singled through the left side to lead off the second inning before stealing second. She moved to third on a groundout by Hye-Jin Kim and then scored on an RBI groundout from Erin Giles.

Hamilton tied the game in the third inning when Kelly Leonard singled up the middle and scored on three different wild pitches.

The Panthers regained the lead in the fourth with a lead-off double to left center by Kat Maehr, setting up a two-run blast to left by Sarah Freyre.

The Continentals committed three errors in the fifth to aid the Panthers' offensive effort. Maehr drove in a run on a fielder's choice, while Freyre did the same with a single to the pitcher. The big blow in the inning came off the bat of Vachow, who doubled to left center with the bases loaded to score three runs.

Leading by eight, the game concluded in the bottom of the sixth when Hamilton could not cut into the lead.

Allison Quigley improved to 8-2 with the win, allowing five hits and one run, while striking out six batters. Freyre and Vachow each finished 2-3 with three RBI and two runs scored. Maehr was 2-3, scoring twice, while Kati Daczkowski doubled.

Leonard (7-5) suffered the loss for Hamilton, allowing three earned runs and nine hits over five innings of work. Five different players had hits for the Continentals, including a double from Daphne Assimakopoulos.

Middlebury grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first inning of game two. Siobhan O'Sullivan led off with a double to center and later scored on a single by Maehr. In the fourth, Vachow singled and stole second before scoring on a double to left by Kim.

Hamilton scored all six of its runs in the fifth, three of them earned. Assimakopoulos led off with a home run to center, before a couple of walks set up a run-scoring double to right center by Ellie Kiernan. Quigley came on in relief of Middlebury starter Neve Stearns and issued a walk before a fielding error allowed the inning to continue. After two more walks and a hit batter, the Continentals held a 6-2 lead.

Middlebury added in a run the seventh as Kelsey Martel doubled to center and her pinch runner Ali Della Volpe later scored on a single to left by O'Sullivan.

Stearns moved to 4-2 with the loss, allowing three earned runs over 5.2 innings of work with eight strikeouts. Vachow finished 2-3 with a run scored, while O'Sullivan was 2-4 with an RBI and a run scored.

Zoe Zinger (2-1) went seven innings for Hamilton, allowing three runs on eight hits with a strikeout. Assimakopoulos paced the Continental hitters, going 2-2 with a two-run homer.