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The Hamilton College softball team split a pair of non-conference games on Sunday afternoon, beating Carleton College 6-2 and losing 7-6 to Rochester Institute of Technology. The Continentals are now 5-5 on their season-opening trip to Florida.

Carleton box score | RIT box score

Olivia Gozdz ’16 went six for seven in the two games, collecting three doubles and scoring four runs.

Kelly Leonard ’15 earned the win against Carleton (5-4 overall), improving to 5-1 on the season. Her four strikeouts raised her career total to 315, moving her to within five of breaking the school record set by Megan Coughlin ’09 from 2006 to 2009. Leonard allowed seven hits and picked up her 27th career victory, matching Kristen Ring ’96 (1993-96) for second on the program’s all-time list.

Bases-loaded walks to Monique St. Jarre ‘15, Becca Butler ’17 and Hannah Staab ’17 put Hamilton up 3-0 in the third and Talia Mercado ’15 hit a two-run double to highlight the Continentals’ three-run sixth.

Both Carleton runs came across in the top of the fourth as Micaela LaRose ’15 drove in the first with an infield groundout and Molly Steinberg ’18 plated the second with a single.

Gozdz went three for three with a pair of stolen bases and Phoebe Collins ’18 had two hits and scored two runs.

In Sunday’s second game Hamilton carried a 6-1 lead into the seventh inning before RIT (1-3) scored six times to take the lead. The Continentals put their first two runners on base in the bottom of the inning before the Tigers retired the final three batters to complete the come-from-behind win.

Gozdz led off the seventh with her third double of the day and Ellie Kiernan '15 reached on an infield grounder but RIT’s Lauren Mahar ’18 closed out the win by setting down the next three hitters.

Hamilton scored four runs in the third to erase RIT’s 1-0 lead. Kiernan was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and Leonard singled in a run to give the Continentals a 3-1 lead. Both drove in runs in the fifth as well, with Kiernan following Gozdz’ one-out double with an RBI single and Leonard bringing her home with a squeeze bunt.

All six RIT runs during the Tigers’ seventh-inning outburst came with two outs. Alexandria Lunderman ’18 doubled home a pair of runs, Sam Killian ’17 followed with a run-scoring single and a passed ball brought home RIT’s fourth run of the inning. A two-run single by Katelyn Koester ’18 plated the tying and go-ahead runs.

Lunderman finished with three hits. Killian, Alexa Farner ’17 and McKenzie Martin ’16 had two apiece.

The Continentals are scheduled to play a pair of non-conference games on Monday, March 23, to wrap up their spring trip, facing Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

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