The Middlebury softball team opened its season with a pair of victories over Clarkson on Saturday. The Panthers utilized an eight-run sixth inning in game one for an 8-3 win over the Golden Knights before tallying a 10-2 triumph in five innings during the nightcap. With the victories, head coach Kelly Bevere '99 eclipsed the 350-win mark in her 20th season.

GAME 1 HIGHLIGHTS

• The Panthers loaded the bases in the second inning. Livy Schultz singled to left field and moved to third after Emily Dowd was plunked and Alison Jankowski walked. Clarkson pitcher Bella Hotchkiss worked out of the jam, inducing a flyout to end the chance.
• The Golden Knights pushed across a run in the fifth. Maddie Throumoulos roped a double to left field and moved to third on a groundout before scoring a single over the middle infielders for a 1-0 lead.
• Clarkson added to the advantage in the sixth. Ray Fontana singled and Isabel Haspil drew free passes before Ry Garcia looped a base hit to center to drive in both and make it a 3-0 contest.
• Middlebury took the lead for good in the home half of the frame, rattling off eight runs on seven hits while taking advantage of a trio of Golden Knight miscues. McKenna Lont, Olivia Fleming and Olivia Scholes had run-scoring base knocks during the rally for an 8-3 contest.
• Emily Ye came in to pitch the seventh, striking out two of the three batters she faced to finalize the opener.

GAME 2 HIGHLIGHTS

• The Panthers got to work early in the nightcap. Kristyn Carroll was hit by a pitch in the initial at-bat before Schultz walked. The pair touched home plate on a three-run homer off the bat of Fleming that wrapped around the left-field foul pole for a 3-0 advantage.
• The hosts tacked on another tally two innings later. Carroll bounced a ball through the left side, swiping second and third before scampering home on a seeing-eye single up the middle from Lont.
• Clarkson sliced the deficit in half with a pair of runs in the fifth. Lexi Rydelek ripped a leadoff double that one-hopped the wall in right, and Kendall Cuyler was hit by a pitch. The pair scored when Kelsea Flanagan plugged the right-center field gap with a double to make it 4-2.
• The navy and white manufactured six runs on six hits in the bottom of the stanza. Carroll started things with a single up the middle and scored on a triple to right center by Scholes. Uma Corcoran made it a 6-2 contest with an infield single to plate Scholes and Schultz increased the lead to five (7-2) on an RBI base knock. Sarah LaFond walked it off with a three-run roundtripper over the left-field wall for the final 10-2 tally.

NOTES

• Lont recorded a career-high 12 strikeouts in the opener, retiring the first six batters she faced via the punchout. That total is tied for fifth in the program's single-game records.
• LaFond's homer was her first in a Middlebury uniform.
• Mia Gilham earned her initial victory in the circle for the Panthers in the second contest. 
• Carroll finished 3-for-6 with five runs scored and four stolen bases in the sweep.
• Middlebury and Clarkson met for the fifth and sixth times, with the Panthers holding a 5-1 advantage. 

Middlebury returns to competition when it hosts Plattsburgh State in a doubleheader on Saturday, beginning at 12:00 p.m.