CLERMONT, Fla. -- The Bates softball team earned a pair of one-run wins on Tuesday, rallying to defeat Centre 7-6 and beating University of Chicago 5-4.

The Bobcats (2-4) have the day off Wednesday before taking on Lawrence at 10am and Wisconsin-Oshkosh at 12:30pm on Thursday. 

Bates 7, Centre 6

Trailing 6-4 through three innings, the Bates softball team rallied to beat Centre College 7-6 Tuesday afternoon. 

Senior captain Janell Sato (Honolulu, Hawaii) got the rally going in the top of the fourth with a double to left center. Two outs later, senior Kennedy Ishii (Honolulu, Hawaii) tripled her home and Bates trailed 6-5. 

Neither team scored in the fifth inning and the Bobcats got another run back in the sixth. First-year Grace Householter (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) doubled to right field to start the frame. One out later, she advanced to third on a passed ball. Then Householter scored on a ground out from junior Cassidy Musco (Walpole, Mass.), tying the game at six. 

Junior Lindsey Kim (Palo Alto, Calif.) got the offense going in the top of the seventh with a single to center. First-year Maggie Hillwig (Phoenix, Md.) followed with a double to right center, scoring Kim and putting Bates up by one.

The Bobcats held on for dear life in the bottom of the seventh. Centre's Mia Tomillo singled to start the inning. Maddison Ellis pinch ran for Tomillo and Kaylee Gregory bunted her to second. Riley McCue followed with a single to center. Musco fielded the ball and came up throwing, getting Ellis at the plate for the second out of the inning. 

Back-to-back walks loaded the bases, but senior Danielle Polirer (Bellmore, N.Y.) got Alana Fullen to fly out to Musco, securing the win for Bates. 

Bates jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the contest against Centre starter Andrea Searcy. With one out in the top of the second, Hillwig doubled down the left field line. Then senior Eliza McNulty (Cambridge, Mass.) doubled in Hillwig, putting the Bobcats ahead 1-0.

They added three more runs in the top of the third. Householter led off the inning and doubled to center. Ishii bunted her way aboard and Householder advanced to third. Ishii stole second base and Musco doubled both runners in to make the score 3-0. Two outs later, Hillwig singled home Musco.

But Centre (5-20) struck back with six runs in the bottom of the third. Three walks and two hit by pitches hurt Bates in the inning. Polirer (1-1) settled down after that and pitched a complete game to earn the victory. She allowed six hits and struck out four batters on the afternoon. 

The Bobcats tallied 13 hits in the victory. Hillwig led the way, going 3-4 with a run scored, two doubles, and two RBIs. Musco drove in three runs and Ishii, McNulty, Sato, and Householter all recorded two hits each. 
 
Bates 5, University of Chicago 4 

Hillwig (1-3) turned in the best pitching performance of her young career in a 5-4 win for the Bobcats over the University of Chicago Tuesday night. 

The first-year just three earned runs on six hits in the complete game. She struck out a pair of batters and continued to produce at the plate, going 1-3 with a run scored.

With the score tied at four in the bottom of the fifth, junior Kama Boswell (Bellevue, Wash.) reached on an error to start the frame. McNulty reached on an error as well and Hillwig reached on a fielder's choice. McNulty was thrown out at second and Boswell advanced to third. Sophomore Rachel Liazos (Westborough, Mass.) delivered the big hit, singling in Boswell and putting Bates ahead for good. 

Hillwig retired the Maroons (4-4) in order in the sixth and worked around a lead-off walk in the seventh to secure her first collegiate win.

Down 1-0, the Bobcats grabbed a 4-1 lead in the second inning. Hillwig got the offense going with a single to right. Liazos followed with a double to right and first-year Sarah Cooke (Wenham, Mass.) reached on an infield single to load the bases. Sophomore Cameron Jones-McNally (Marcellus, Mich.) drew a walk and the game was tied at one.

One out later, senior Aleah Pagan (Orinda, Calif.) doubled in two runs and advanced to third on the throw home, which got Jones-McNally for the second out. But Pagan scored on a wild pitch to make the score 4-1.

The Maroons rallied with an unearned run in the third and a pair of runs in the fourth, tying the game at four before the Bobcats picked up an unearned run of their own in the fifth that proved to be the difference. 

Both teams recorded six hits on the evening, with the Maroons hurt by four errors. Liazos went 2-2 at the plate for Bates with a double, a run scored, and an RBI.