The Middlebury softball team opened up its season by splitting a pair of games during its spring trip. The Panthers earned a 3-2 win over Southern Maine (8-3) in the opener, but fell to West Virginia University Institute of Technology (10-15) 11-5 in the second game of the day. The contests took place in Clermont, Florida, where Middlebury will be back in action on Saturday playing games against Chicago, Oberlin and Thomas (Maine).

In the first contest of 2016 against Southern Maine, the Huskies took the lead with a run in the top of the second inning. Mary Caron was hit by a pitch to start the inning, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored an unearned run on a miscue by the Middlebury infield.

The score remained that way until the third when the Panthers knotted the game at 1-1. Hye-Jin Kim singled to second base and advanced to second and third on a wild pitch and passed ball, respectively. She scored on an RBI single to left field by Jackie Stern.

Southern Maine regained a one-run lead when Caron doubled to left in the bottom of the fourth and touched home plate on a run-scoring single to center field from Samantha Crosman. She moved to second on the throw and third on a groundout, but Middlebury starting pitcher Allison Quigley kept Crosman there with a strikeout to end the inning.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Panthers took the lead for good when Siobhan O'Sullivan singled to center and eventually scored on a wild pitch. Kati Daczkowski smacked a single to center field, scoring Carlyn Vachow for the winning run who walked earlier in the inning. 

The Panthers looked to increase their lead when they loaded the bases in the fifth, but Southern Maine hurler Sammi Goode worked out of the jam with a fly out to center field.

The Huskies looked to tie the game in the final two innings, but Neve Stearns wiggled out of a bases-loaded situation in the sixth and one-out double in the seventh for the victory.

Quigley went the first four innings for the Panthers, surrendered two runs, one earned, on three hits with three strikeouts and a walk. Stearns tossed the final three frames, striking out three with two walks for her first save of the spring. Goode suffered the loss, giving up three runs on five hits in six innings with eight punchouts and five walks.

Five different players had a hit for the Panthers, including O'Sullivan and Kim who also reached the base paths a second time with a walk.

In the second game against West Virginia Institute of Technology, the Panthers grabbed an early 1-0 lead in the first when O'Sullivan roped a single to left scoring Taylor Gardner who doubled to right. The Golden Bears regained the lead in the top of the second on a two-run homerun by Genna Trippett to left, the first of her three round-trippers in the game.

The Panthers answered with two runs of their own in the home half of the second. Sarah Freyre walked and scored on Kim's first homerun of the season for a 3-2 lead. Middlebury tacked on a single tally in the third with an RBI single by Emma Hamilton to left-center field, scoring Ande Troutman who was inserted as a pinch runner.

The score remained that way until the fifth when the Golden Bears scored four times, highlighted by a three-run homer from Trippett to right center. West Virginia Institute of Technology added three in sixth on Trippett's third homer of the game and two more in the seventh for the final 11-5 score.

Irene Margiotta pitched a total of four innings for the Panthers giving up three runs, two earned, on three hits. Stearns took the loss, giving up four runs on eight hits in two innings, while Lane Dikeman tossed an inning with four runs, three earned, on two hits.

Gardner, O'Sullivan and Kim each went 2-3 at the plate for Middlebury.

Mackenzie Wilson tossed the first inning for the Golden Bears surrendering three runs on three hits, while Kyla Shull (1-1) earned the win going the final six frames with two runs on six hits.

Trippett finished the game 3-4 on three homeruns with eight RBI and three runs scored. MaKayla Waugh also was 3-4 with an RBI and run scored, while MiKayla Craze also had a multi-hit game going 2-4 with a run scored.