HARTFORD, Conn. -- The Bates softball team is off to its best 16-game start in the last quarter-century after sweeping Trinity in a NESCAC doubleheader on Sunday. The Bobcats (11-5, 3-1 NESCAC) beat the Bantams (5-8, 1-3 NESCAC) 3-2 in game one and 10-8 in game two.
Bates returns to action this Friday when they taken on No. 12 nationally ranked Williams in a doubleheader. First pitch of game one is set for 11 a.m. on the campus of Bowdoin College.
Game One: Bates 3, Trinity 2
Junior captain
Delaney Rankin tossed a complete game and won her eighth straight start to begin the season as the Bobcats defeated the Bantams 3-2 in game one of Sunday's doubleheader.
Rankin (Harrison, Maine) scattered eight hits and allowed two or fewer runs in a start for the seventh time this year.
With the score tied at one, the Bobcats grabbed the lead for good with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth. Sophomore
Emily Kennedy (East Hampton, N.Y.) drew a walk to start the frame and one out later junior captain
Ella Maher (Newton, Mass.) singled through the left side. A passed ball moved both runners up and sophomore
Zariya Anderson (Wayzata, Minn.) drew a walk to load the bases. Sophomore captain
Isabel Bettencourt (Peabody, Mass.) proceeded to rip a single to center, scoring two and giving Bates a 3-1 lead.
The Bantams got a run back in the bottom of the sixth. Erin Steed singled to start the frame and pinch runner Annika Haley stole second. With two away, Makenna True singled home Haley, trimming the Bates lead to 3-2. But Rankin got Isabella Calagna to line out, ending the inning.
With Bates up by one, Trinity threatened in the bottom of the seventh. With one away, Abigail Alper singled and advanced all the way to third on a Bates error. She tried to score on a grounder to short by Kennedy Rogers, but Maher threw her out at the plate, preserving the lead. Then Rankin (8-0) got Emily Goddard to foul out to right, securing the win.
Each team tallied eight hits in game one. Zofia Sargent (4-4) took the loss for Trinity, going the distance and giving up three runs.
The Bobcats got on the board first, going up 1-0 in the top of the second. With one out, senior
Grace Householter (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) got hit by a pitch. Rankin reached on an infield single and with two away Kennedy delivered an RBI double to drive in Householter. An Alper home run tied the game at one in the third.
Maher and Bettencourt both tallied two hits in game one for Bates, with Maher scoring a run and Bettencourt driving in two. Alper and Steed recorded two hits apiece for Trinity.
Game Two: Bates 10, Trinity 8
The Bobcats scored five times with two outs in the fifth inning to go ahead for good in a 10-8 win over Trinity in game two of Sunday's doubleheader.
The Bobcats trailed 6-5 entering the fifth. With two away and nobody on, sophomore
Maya Lee (Wayland, Mass.) got the rally started with a single through the left side. Kennedy reached on an error and first-year
Maddy Miller (Norway, Maine) singled in Lee to tie the game at six. Junior
Emma Yen (Albertson, N.Y.) walked to load the bases and Maher singled in Miller and Kennedy, putting the Bobcats up 8-6. Anderson followed with a two-RBI single of her own and just like that Bates led 10-6.
Trinity recorded a two-out rally of their own in the bottom of the fifth. Kellie Schroffner singled and Calagna tripled her home. Taylor Mikolajczak singled in Calagna, trimming the Bates lead to 10-8. Alper followed with a single up the middle but Bates rookie pitcher
Brigid Gaffny (North Andover, Mass.) got Rogers to hit into a fielder's choice, ending the inning and preserving the lead.
Gaffny (1-2) retired the final seven batters of the game to earn her first collegiate win.
Both starting pitchers tossed a pair of scoreless innings to begin the game, before the bats came alive in the middle innings. Bates got on the board first against Trinity starter Annie Konieczka (1-3) in the top of the third. With one away, Yen singled up the middle. Then with two outs, Anderson reached on an infield single. A Trinity throwing error on the play moved Yen to third. Then a wild pitch plated Yen and Bates led 1-0.
The Bantams answered against Bates first-year starting pitcher
Haley Alden (Manchester, N.H.) in the bottom of the third. With one out, Calagna singled through the left side and Mikolajczak doubled her in, tying the game at one. Alper tripled Mikolajczak home to put the Bantams up 2-1. Alden got a line out and a ground out to prevent further damage.
With Bates now down by one, the Bobcats answered in a big way, scoring four times with two outs in the top of the fourth. Kennedy got the rally started with a triple to left-center. Then Miller recorded her first collegiate hit, smacking a single up the middle to tie the game at two. Yen drew a walk and Maher cleared the bases with a two-RBI double. Anderson singled in Maher and Bates led 5-2.
But the Bantams scored four runs of their own in the bottom of the fourth, going back up by one on a bases loaded walk. All four runs were unearned, as the inning started with a Bates error.
Gaffny got the final out of the fourth, and Bates' five runs in the fifth set her up for the win. The rookie took care of the rest in the circle for the Bobcats.
The two teams combined for 24 hits in game two, with Bates finishing with 13. Maher and Anderson tallied three hits apiece and combined for seven runs batted in. Lee and Miller both tallied a pair of hits, with Miller scoring and driving in two runs. Mikolajczak led Trinity, going 4-4 with two runs scored and three RBIs.
The pair of wins Sunday over Trinity are the first victories for Bates softball on the road against the Bantams since 2012. They snap a seven-game losing streak overall to Trinity.
