The Hamilton College softball team dropped the rubber game of its weekend series with NESCAC West Division rival Middlebury College on Sunday afternoon, losing 1-0 in 10 innings.
Box score
The game marked the first time this spring the Continentals (9-13, 4-4 NESCAC West) played at their home facility Ferguson Field.
The visiting Panthers (13-6, 4-3) pushed across a run in the top of the 10th inning and withstood a Hamilton threat in the bottom of the inning when the Continentals put two runners in scoring position.
The Continentals began the final inning with a runner on second (international tiebreaker rules begin in the 10th inning) and moved the runner to third with a sacrifice bunt. Julia Carpenter ’18 beat out a ground ball to third base after Middlebury’s infielder held the baserunner at third and Olivia Gozdz ’16 followed with a bloop single to left. Hamilton’s runner held up to see whether or not the ball was caught and Panther left fielder Kelsey Martel ’15 had time to throw the runner out at home to preserve the lead. Allison Quigley ’18 closed out the complete-game, extra-inning shutout on a fly ball to the outfield.
Jackie Stern ’16 scored the game’s only run in the top of the inning, moving from second to third on a sacrifice bunt by Siobahn O’Sullivan ’17 and scoring on a single down the left field line by Kat Maehr ‘16.
Quigley finished with an eight-hit shutout over 10 innings, striking out 12 Continentals and improving to 9-2 on the year.
Hamilton left two runners on base in each of the three extra innings. In the eighth, Kelly Leonard ’15 reached on a one-out single and one batter later Gozdz drew a four-pitch walk before Quigley induced an inning-ending pop-up.
An inning later Phoebe Collins ’18 doubled to left center with two outs and Daphne Assimakopoulos ’17 walked before Quigley worked out of another jam.
Leonard took the loss in relief, allowing four hits in four innings. Hamilton’s starter, Zoe Singer ’18, blanked the Panthers on six hits over six innings.
Carpenter and Gozdz both had two of Hamilton’s eight hits.
Freyre, O’Sullivan, Stern and Carlyn Vachow ’16 had two hits each for Middlebury.
The Continentals host SUNY Polytechnic in a 3:30 p.m. doubleheader on Monday, April 13. Hamilton’s scheduled doubleheader against visiting Morrisville State College, scheduled for Wednesday, April 15, has been postponed and a make-up date has not been determined.
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