MIDDLETOWN, Conn. -- Bates College and Wesleyan University split a NESCAC softball twin-bill Saturday as the Bobcats took the first game with a dramatic 5-2 extra-inning victory. The host-Cardinals prevailed in the nightcap with a 1-0 win in the conference opener for Bates.

GAME ONE

 Bates struck right away in the top of the first as C Isabel Bettencourt brought in 3B Emma Yen (hit-by-pitch) with her third sacrifice fly of the season. Wesleyan (13-3, 3-1 NESCAC) responded in the home half of the frame with a lead-off home run by 2B Molly Lennon.

The score remained 1-1 until the fifth inning when Wesleyan snapped the stalemate after Isabella Secaira-Cotto tripled, driving in Rebecca Cassel-Siskind (single).The Bobcats immediately answered in the next half-frame, as LF Sienna Pietrasiewicz evened the score at 2-2 with a bases-loaded single.

Extras would be required to decide a victor as the garnet and white ultimately pulled ahead in the eighth, scoring three runs on clutch doubles from Zariya Anderson and Delaney Rankin (2 RBI). Rankin, who helped her own cause with the bat, continued to dazzle in the circle as the junior ace went the distance to improve to a perfect 7-0 on the year.  

Secaira-Cotto (1-1) suffered the loss in 2.2 innings (5 H, 3 R, 3 ER) out of the Wesleyan bullpen. SS Ella Maher went 2-for-4 with a double and run scored in the win for Bates.

GAME TWO

The Cardinals eked out a 1-0 walk-off victory in the nightcap to salvage the split. The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the seventh inning when Secaira-Cotto singled, driving in pinch-hitter Abby Orso (single) for the game's only run. 

Jacelyn Lees (7-0) remained undefeated with the complete-game shutout (4 H, BB, 7 K). Brigid Gaffny (0-2) was the tough-luck loser as the first-year recorded the first complete game of her young career (6.2 IP, 10 H, BB, K).

The Bobcats (9-5, 1-1 NESCAC) remain in the Nutmeg State to take on Trinity College (5-6, 1-1 NESCAC) Sunday at noon.