Maddie Inlow was 2-2 with two walks in game two against Hamilton on April 18, 2015. (File Photo by Josh Kuckens/Bates College)

MEDFORD, Mass. - The Bates softball team earned a split in Saturday' s doubleheader with Hamilton College, winning the first game 5-3 and dropping the second 11-4 at Spicer Field on the campus of Tufts University.

Seven different players recorded hits in game one for Bates (3-16, 1-6 NESCAC), including a pair of stand up triples from Karen Lockhart (East Greenwich, R.I.) and Victoria Fitzgerald (Holliston, Mass.). In game two, the Bobcats out-hit Hamilton (11-14, 4-4 NESCAC) 11-10, but committed four errors and stranded eight runners in the loss.  

Kelsey Freedman (Falmouth, Maine) was on the mound for Bates in game one, allowing three runs, one earned, on four hits while striking out six to notch her third win of the season. Hamilton was led by Daphne Assimakopoulos, who was 2-2 with a run scored in game two while Monique St. Jarre pitched four innings of relief to get the win for the Continentals.

The Bobcats resume play on April 19 with a 10:00 am contest against Tufts University at Bowdoin College.

Game one recap
Bates 5, Hamilton 3

The Bobcats trailed early in game one, but scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth to net the non-conference victory. Bates was led by Lockhart, who was 1-3 with a two-run triple in the second.

Hamilton threatened to score first, as Assimakopoulos doubled to right-center field to start the second, just out of reach of a diving Kira Shaikh (Manchester, Conn.), and took third on a delayed steal. But Freedman responded by striking out the next three batters to keep the Continentals off of the board.

The Bobcats took the early lead in bottom of the third as Brenna Callahan (Milton, Mass.) singled to left to start the inning, and took third on a fielder's choice and an error off the bat of Freedman. Both runners came home on a stand-up triple to right field from Lockhart to give Bates the 2-0 lead.

Hamilton cut the lead in half in the fourth, when Assimakopoulos drew a two-out walk and came around on Phoebe Collins' double to center, making it 2-1. The Continentals took the lead in the fifth with some head's up base running. Julia Carpenter walked, hustled down to first base and took second as the ball was thrown back to the pitcher. Carpenter came around to score when a fly ball off the bat of Kelly Leonard was misplayed, and Leonard eventually scored the go ahead run on a fielder's choice from Olivia Gozdz to make it 3-2, Hamilton.

In the bottom of six, Maddie Inlow (Falmouth, Maine) got things started with a single to left, moved to second on the sacrifice bunt from Paige Ahlholm (North Andover, Mass.) and came home on the second stand up triple of the game, this one a shot down the right field line from Fitzgerald. The Bobcats went ahead on a wild pitch that brought home Fitzgerald and Callahan later scored on a hustling infield slap hit from Marina Barsoum (Newark, N.J.) to give Bates the 5-3 lead to set the final score.

Assimakopoulos was the lone player on either team to record a multi-hit performance in game one, going 2-2 with a run scored, while Gozdz and Collins each had an RBI. Leonard was on the mound for Hamilton, allowing five runs on seven hits while striking out six for the day.

Game two
Hamilton 11, Bates 4

Hamilton used a six-run fifth inning en route to a 11-4 victory in the night cap, led by Assimakopoulos, Butler, and Singer, who each recorded two hits for the Continentals. Butler and Singer each notched a pair of RBIs as well, with Butler scoring two runs.

Bates, who was the visiting team in game two, was led by Inlow, who reached base four times, going 2-2 with two RBIs while also drawing a pair of walks. The Bobcats scored the game's first run in the top of the first off of Hamilton starter Zoe Singer, on consecutive hits from Shaikh and Inlow. But Singer helped her own cause for Hamilton when she launched a two-run shot over the left field fence in the bottom of the second, bringing home Butler, who doubled down the left field line with one out.

The Bobcats got one run back in the top of the third again with the combination of Shaikh and Inlow; Shaikh singled to start the inning, stole second, and came home on an Inlow double to right center field that tied the game at two.

The Continentals picked up three earned runs on a pair of Bobcat errors in the bottom of the third to make it 5-2. Bates closed the gap in the top of the fourth scoring two runs on three hits, and highlighted by back to back hits from Maria Garbarino (Reading, Mass.) and an RBI double from Emma Schiller (Natick, Mass.), forcing a Hamilton pitching change. Singer returned to first base and first baseman St. Jarre took the mound with one on and nobody out.  

A potential big inning by Bates was shut down on a double-play, as Shaikh flied to Hamilton right fielder Assimakopoulos, who then threw a perfect strike to third base to get Garbarino and end the threat.

Hamilton erupted for five runs on five hits in the fifth, highlighted by RBI singles from Butler and Collins to set the final score at 11-4.

St. Jarre notched the win for Hamilton, allowing only two hits in four shut out innings while striking out two. Starter Zoe Singer tossed three innings, giving up four runs, three earned on eight hits. Brennan Callahan took the loss for the Bobcats, throwing 4.1 innings and allowing eight runs, five earned, on five hits. Freedman threw the final 1.2 innings, giving up three runs on four hits while striking out two.