Middlebury put together a pair of solid efforts in a doubleheader at Clarkson (15-17) on Saturday, but only came away with a split against the Golden Knights. The Panthers (17-9) won the opener 8-0, before dropping a tight 3-1 decision in the nightcap. Middlebury is right back on the field tomorrow, hosting Union for a pair of games at 1:00 p.m. to conclude the regular season.
In game one, Middlebury staked out to a 2-0 advantage before the Golden Knights had a turn at the plate. Abby Santis drove in Noelle Ruschil with a single to center field, while Megan Fox had a base hit through the left side to bring home Santis for a 2-0 lead.
Ruschil added a solo home run to left in the fifth inning and Jen McGann lifted a sacrifice fly to right field a frame later to push the difference to 4-0.
Middlebury capped the victory with a four-run seventh inning with Tori Papaleo driving in Sophia Marlino with a double and then scoring on a base hit by Jordyn Johnson for the 6-0 edge. Ruschil quickly bumped the score of 8-0 with her second home run of the game, marking the third time this spring she has hit two offerings out of the park. Ruschil leads the NESCAC with 13 homers.
That offense was more than enough run support for Panther pitcher Jewel Ashbrook (10-3), as she turned in a tremendous effort. She gave up only three hits and struck out a career-high nine with no walks for her third shutout of the season.
Ruschil finished the game going 3-4 with two homers, three runs scored and three RBI. Johnson chipped in with a pair of hits, while Papaleo and McGann each added extra-base hits.
In the second game, the Golden Knights scored their first run of the day in the home half of the first inning on an RBI single by Sarah Vaccaro through the right side.
The Panthers pulled even in the third with a run, as Ruschil hit a sacrifice fly to bring in Papaleo.
The Golden Knights broke the tie in the bottom of the fifth with a pair of unearned runs. Vaccaro and Kayla Robert each brought in with a base hit.
Olivia Zoeller (8-7) kept the Panthers in check the rest of the way, earning the win with one run against on seven hits with 10 strikeouts. Vaccaro went 2-3 at the plate and drove in a pair of runs.
Johnson finished 3-4 with a double at the plate for the Panthers, while Santis extended her hitting streak to 17 games. Samantha Hausman (4-4) yielded only one earned run in 4.2 innings in taking the loss in the circle.
