Extra-Inning Thriller Gives #25 Panthers Split at #14 Colby

The 25th-ranked Middlebury softball team tallied four runs in the ninth inning of Friday's opener against #14 Colby, claiming the contest by a 9-5 score. The Mules rallied and took the nightcap 2-1 to earn the split.

GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS

• The Panthers struck early with a pair of runs in the first inning. Kristyn Carroll drew a leadoff walk and stole second. She jogged around to score on a home run down the left-field line off the bat of Livy Schultz for a 2-0 advantage.

• Middlebury increased its lead two frames later. Olivia Fleming induced a base on balls and Schultz followed with a single to right center. The pair touched home on a base hit to left from Jen Westphal to make it 4-0.

• In the bottom of the stanza, the Mules mounted a two-out rally. Ella Wilcox doubled to left center to score Julie Berry, while Wilcox cut the deficit to 4-2 on a run-producing base knock from Juliana Kiley.

• Colby pulled within one on a solo homer to left by Kelsey Sullivan in the fourth.

• The Mules grabbed their first lead in the sixth on a Carissa Cassidy two-run single that plugged the right-center gap to plate Kelsey Sullivan and Lauren Valji.

• With one out in the seventh, pinch hitter Sarah LaFond blasted a homer that cleared the wall in left center to knot the contest at 5-5.

• Pitcher McKenna Lont sent the Mules down in order in the home half to send the game into extra innings.

• Middlebury looked to take the lead in the eighth when pinch runner Alison Jankowski moved to third on a groundout, but Mule pitcher Sophia Meade induced a lineout to keep the contest deadlocked.

• The Panthers exploded with four runs on four hits in the ninth, highlighted by Schultz's second roundtripper of the game and an RBI double from Carroll for a 9-5 advantage.

• Lont didn't allow a base runner in the bottom half, punctuating the thrilling win with a strikeout for the four-run win.

GAME TWO HIGHLIGHTS

• The visitors jumped out to a 1-0 advantage in the third frame. Carroll legged out an infield single, quickly swiped second and gave Middlebury the early edge on a two-base knock to right from Fleming.

• Colby deadlocked the game at 1-1 in the fourth on a Victoria Ramirez double to left center, driving in pinch runner Kat Xiong. Panther Mia Gilham wriggled out of the jam, getting a pop up and a groundout to keep the game level.

• The Mules tallied an unearned run a stanza later. Kiley bounded a ball up the middle to push across Cassidy, who reached via an error.

• Middlebury had a chance in the sixth when Schultz beat out a throw for a single, moved to second and was lifted for pinch runner Sera Tokumaru. A groundout pushed the Panther to third, but Sharlotte Stazinski forced an out on the ground to maintain the one-run edge.

• Colby closed the door in the seventh to earn the victory and the split.

NOTES

• Schultz's two homers in the opener tied a single-game program record that last occurred on April 30, 2022. She went a combined 6-for-8 at the plate, scored three times and drove in three more.

• Lont collected her eighth triumph in the circle this spring, tossing five innings while allowing two runs on four hits with a quartet of strikeouts.

• The programs played for the 27th and 28th matchups.

Middlebury returns to action on Saturday against #12 Tufts. The initial pitch of the twin bill from Medford is slated for 1:00 p.m.