The Middlebury softball team continued its solid trip to the Sunshine State on Thursday at THE Spring Games in Clermont, Florida. The Panthers posted an 8-6 win in eight innings over Augustana (Ill.) before scoring six times in the first inning against Carleton on their way to an 11-2 victory in five frames.

HIGHLIGHTS VS. AUGUSTANA

• The contest featured a pitchers' duel through the first four innings. The best scoring chance came in the second when the Vikings placed runners on second and third with one out, but pitcher Emily Dowd produced a groundout before fanning the ensuing batter to get out of the jam. 
• Augustana manufactured a run in the home half of the fifth when Lilli Burton walked, moved up on a sacrifice bunt and raced around to score on a single to left-center field by Alexis Duke.
• The Panthers took the lead with a pair of tallies to open the sixth. Kristyn Carroll drew a base on balls and advanced on a fielder's choice before Olivia Scholes brought her home with a base knock. Livy Schultz made it a 2-1 advantage, scoring on a sacrifice fly by Reagan Adiletta.
• The Vikings evened the matchup at 2-2 in the home half of the frame. Burton lifted a sac fly to right, plating A'rion Longergan.
• With the international tiebreaker rule in effect and a runner placed on second, Middlebury uncorked six runs on seven hits. Adiletta and McKenna Lont had two-run base hits during the rally, pushing the Panther advantage to 8-2.
• Augustana mounted a charge in their final at-bat, scoring three times before a single to left off the bat of Duke made it 8-6. 
• Middlebury reliever Emily Ye induced a groundout to end the contest and collect the save for the two-run victory.

HIGHLIGHTS VS. CARLETON

• In the second contest of the day, the Panthers manufactured six runs on five hits in the opening session. Adiletta started the outburst by drawing a bases-loaded walk before Olivia Fleming ripped an RBI single through the left side to make it 2-0. A two-run base hit by Jen Westphal, a run-scoring groundout from Lont and a single to center by Katelyn Mikros that scored Westphal increased the edge to 6-0.
• The Knights sliced the advantage to five in the third when Gloria Hronek walked with the bases loaded.
• Middlebury answered with five runs on eight base hits later in the stanza to swell the lead to 11-1. Carroll highlighted the inning with an RBI triple to the wall in left center, while Lont and Mikros produced run-scoring base knocks.
• Carleton tallied the contest's final run in the fifth. Esme Song led off with a single and later scored on a Hronek base hit to center for the final 11-2 difference.

NOTES

• Carroll finished 3-for-7 in the two victories and scored four times. She has touched home plate 143 times in her career, tying Jessa Hoffman '13 for the most in program history.
• Scholes went a combined 4-for-8 at the plate with two RBI and scored twice, while Fleming recorded hits in all three plate appearances with two runs against Carleton.
• Dowd recorded her team-leading fourth win (4-0) in the circle against the Vikings, tossing 5.1 innings of one-run softball with three hits and five strikeouts. Ye tallied her first save of the spring. 
• Mia Gilham earned the victory in the triumph over Carleton to improve to 3-0.
• Middlebury and Augustana met for the first time in softball. The Panthers and Knights squared off for the ninth matchup, with Middlebury taking a 6-3 edge.

The Panthers close out the spring trip on Friday when they take on Luther at 10:00 a.m. and Augustana (Ill.) at 12:15 p.m.