The Middlebury softball team swept both ends of a NESCAC West doubleheader against Hamilton on a cold and blustery Saturday, combining for 25 runs on 31 hits in 12-7 and 13-9 victories. Winners of five-straight games, the Panthers (16-8, 4-4) will return to the diamond when they host St. Joseph's (Vt.) on Monday in a doubleheader beginning at 4:00 p.m., while Hamilton (10-22, 3-9) entertains Skidmore for a Tuesday twinbill at 4:00 p.m.

In game one, the contest remained scoreless until the bottom of the third when the Panthers exploded for nine runs on six hits and were aided by a Hamilton error and two walks. Siobhan O'Sullivan brought home the first run with an RBI single, while Taylor Gardner made it 3-0 with a two-run double off the left-field wall. Kat Maehr induced a bases-loaded walk for the fourth run, while Ali Della Volpe singled down the left-field line.

With the bases still packed full of Panthers, pinch hitter Kati Daczkowski smacked a single to right that scored two more, while an errant throw allowed the third runner to score and Daczkowski to scamper all the way to third, giving the hosts  an 8-0 advantage. Emma Hamilton completed the scoring with a sacrifice fly scoring Daczkowski for the ninth run.

The Panthers made it 10-0 in the bottom of the fourth when Ande Troutman, who was inserted as a pinch runner following a single from Erin Giles, scored on a wild pitch.

Hamilton extended the game with four runs on three hits and was helped by a pair of Panther miscues in the top of the fifth. Delaney Nicol doubled down the left-field line, scoring Olivia Gozdz who reached on an error and Ursula Castiblanco who doubled. After a walk to Phoebe Collins put runners at first and second, Hannah Staab pulled the visitors to within a 10-4 count when she blooped a single to left that was misplayed, allowing Castiblanco and Collins to score unearned tallies.

In the top of the sixth, Collins roped a three-run double off the left-center field fence, bringing the Continentals to within three (10-7). Middlebury answered in its half of the frame with a pair of runs on back-to-back run-scoring base hits from Hye-Jin Kim and Maehr to complete the scoring.

Maehr led four players who produced multi-hit games with a 3-3 performance with two RBI and a run scored. Gardner went 2-4 with a pair of doubles, two RBI and two runs scored. Hamilton had a 2-3 game with a run batted in, while Carlyn Vachow was 2-4 with a run scored.

Allison Quigley picked up the win in the circle for Middlebury, allowing four runs, just one earned, on five hits with a pair of strikeouts in 4.1 innings. Irene Margiotta pitched the final 2.2 innings, giving up three runs on three hits with a punchout.

Liz Brautiga went 2-4 in game one with a run scored for the Continentals, while Collins was 1-2 with three RBI, a run scored and two walks.  

Castiblanco (0-6) suffered the loss, allowing seven runs on six hits with four walks over 2.1 innings of work. Zoe Singer pitched the final 3.2 innings, surrendering five runs, three earned, on eight hits.

Trailing 1-0 in the nightcap, the Panthers took the lead with a three-run bottom of the second. Daczkowski hit a run-scoring single, allowing Sarah Freyre, who roped a double to left that one-hopped the fence to score. Jackie Stern gave the hosts a 3-1 edge with a two-run double that curved just inside the right-field foul line.

Hamilton regained the lead at 5-3 with a four-run fourth inning, highlighted by an RBI single to right from Yzaguirre and a three-run home run by Nicol to center. The Panthers answered with four of their own in the bottom of the frame. Giles hit her second homer of the spring on a ball that hit the very top of the fence in center, went up into the air and was blown over by the wind. With the bases full of Panthers, Gardner was hit by a pitch to tie the game at 5-5, while a wild pitch allowed Vachow to score from third and an RBI groundout by Freyre plated O'Sullivan.

After Hamilton scored a run in the top of the frame, Middlebury tacked on five runs in the home half of the inning for a 12-6 lead, highlighted by RBI singles from Giles and Vachow sandwiched around a run-scoring double to center from Hamilton and a RBI groundout by O'Sullivan. The hosts tacked on another tally in the bottom of the sixth via an RBI single by Hamilton.

The Continentals made things interesting with three runs on three hits in the seventh, but Margiotta got Daphne Assimakopolous to strike out with the bases loaded, ending the comeback.

Vachow led the Panther bats going 4-4 with two runs scored and an RBI. Hamilton went 3-5 with a double, two runs scored and two RBI, while Daczkowski was 3-4 with three runs scored and an RBI. Giles finished 2-3 with a homer, two RBI and a run scored, while Freyre (2-4, R, RBI) and Stern (2-5, 2 RBI, R) also had multi-hit games.

In the circle, Stearns went the first 3.2 innings, allowing five runs on nine hits. Quigley (6-1) came on in relief, picking up her second win of the day surrendering four runs on seven hits with three strikeouts, while Margiotta recorded the final two outs for her first career save.

At the plate for Hamilton in game two, Yzaguirre (3-5), Castiblanco (3-4) and Staab (3-4) each produced three-hit games, while Gozdz was 2-3 with two walks and a pair of runs scored. Brautiga went 2-4 with a pair of runs, while Nicol was 1-3 with four RBI.

Molly Leitner tossed the first three innings for Hamilton, five up three runs on five hits. Desmen DePaulis (1-5) was saddled with the loss, allowing four runs on four hits in an inning of work, while Singer pitched the final two frames with six runs on eight hits.