The Middlebury softball team earned a pair of NESCAC wins on Saturday over Hamilton. The Panthers scored three runs in the first inning of the opener en route to a 5-3 triumph before taking the nightcap 8-2 in six innings in a game that was declared an official result due to weather. Middlebury was the visiting team as the conference twinbill was originally scheduled to be played in New York but was moved to Vermont due to forecasted weather.

GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS

• The Panthers struck for three runs in the top of the first inning. Kristyn Carroll roped a leadoff double to left field, stole third and raced home on a wild pitch. Jennifer Westphal pushed across the second run on a fielder's choice, while Olivia Schultz poked a seeing-eye RBI single through the right side to plate Westphal for a 3-0 advantage.
• The Continentals cut the deficit to one (3-2) in the bottom of the frame on a two-run roundtripper from Alexis Mayer that cleared the right-center field wall.
• Middlebury increased its lead to 4-2 in the fourth. Skylar Wong walked and raced around to score on a double that one-hopped the wall in center off the bat of Olivia Fleming.
• Hamilton pulled to within one (4-3) in the fifth when Mayer lifted a ball into left field to drive in Jordan Merklin who singled earlier in the frame.
• Cate Viola started the seventh with a base hit and eventually touched home plate on a run-scoring fielder's choice by Schultz for a 5-3 advantage.
• The Continentals had runners on second and third with nobody out in the seventh, but McKenna Lont worked out of the jam by inducing a groundout and a pair of popups to secure the 5-3 triumph.

GAME TWO HIGHLIGHTS

• Middlebury jumped on the board with a tally in the initial frame. Carroll opened the inning with a single to right center, advanced to second on a walk and raced home on a double by Olivia Scholes for the 1-0 edge.
• Hamilton answered with a pair of unearned runs in the bottom on an RBI single by Charlie Quinn and a passed ball for the 2-1 lead.
• The Panthers took a one-run edge in the fifth. Carroll blasted an opposite-field double down the left-field line to bring home Fleming who drew a walk. Scholes followed with a base hit to center to push across Carroll for a 3-2 advantage.
• Middlebury exploded for five runs in the top of the sixth, highlighted by a bases-clearing double from Viola, for an 8-2 lead as the game was declared a Panther win.

NOTES

• Carroll collected her 30th career double in the opener. She also has 52 hits this season.
• Samantha Hausman earned her team-leading eighth win (8-3). She allowed two unearned runs over five innings in the circle, giving up three hits while striking out six.
• Carroll and Lont both played in their 100th career games.
• With the triumphs, the Panthers eclipsed the 20-win plateau for the third time in the last four seasons and the 12th in program history.
• The programs played for the 62nd and 63rd matchups with Middlebury holding a 47-16 advantage in the all-time series. The Panthers have claimed five-straight victories and six of the last seven.

Middlebury returns to action on Sunday when it hosts #23 Williams in a doubleheader starting at 1:00 p.m.