Anna Berenson hustles home against Washington & Jefferson at the National Training Center Tournament on March 14, 2015. (Photo by Risley Sports Photography)

CLERMONT, Fla. - Victoria Fitzgerald singled home Karen Lockhart in the bottom of the eighth inning Saturday afternoon, giving the Bates softball team their first win of the young season, 3-2, in extra innings over Washington & Jefferson at the National Training Center Tournament.

Senior Kelsey Freedman (Falmouth, Maine) picked up the win for the Bobcats (1-5, 0-0 NESCAC), scattering two runs on six hits over eight innings while striking out seven and walking five. Bates out-hit Washington & Jefferson (0-2), 7-6 in the victory.

The Presidents got on the board first with a solo home run from Jen Bahm to lead off the second inning. Bates tied things up in the bottom of the second, as first-year Paige Ahlholm (North Andover, Mass.) and senior Brenna Callahan (Milton, Mass.) started the inning with back to back walks. Consecutive wild pitches moved both runners up, but Ahlholm was thrown out at home on the second passed ball. Junior Anna Berenson (Topsfield, Mass.) tied the game two pitches later with a fielder's choice that brought Callahan home.

The game remained tied until the top of the eighth, when Washington & Jefferson took the 2-1 lead on a sacrifice fly to center field. But the Bobcats responded with textbook softball, as first-year Emma Schiller (Natick, Mass.) sacrificed Berenson, who started the inning on second base, to third, with a bunt. Junior Karen Lockhart (East Greenwich, R.I.) followed with a single to tie the game.  After Freedman flied out, Kira Shaikh laced a two-out single to keep the inning alive, and Fitzgerald singled to bring home the winning run.

Freedman and Schiller both recorded multi-hit games for Bates, and Lockhart, Fitzgerald, and Berenson each had an RBI in the win. The Bobcats next face Brandeis for a double-header on March 22, at noon.