BRUNSWICK, Maine -- The Bates softball team scored four runs in the fifth inning of game two of Saturday's doubleheader, rallying to split the twin bill with Middlebury. The Bobcats dropped game one 4-3 before prevailing 5-3 in game two.

Bates (13-7, 5-3 NESCAC) is back in action this Tuesday when the Bobcats visit Thomas College for a doubleheader. First pitch of game one is set for 3 p.m.

Game One: Middlebury 4, Bates 3

A late Bates rally fell just short in a 4-3 loss to Middlebury in game one of Saturday's doubleheader.

The Panthers jumped out to the early lead thanks to a solo home run off the bat of Olivia Scholes in the top of the first. 

Bates had Middlebury starting pitcher Emily Ye (5-0) on the ropes early, loading the bases with just one out in the first. But the rookie Panther was able to get out of the jam thanks to a strikeout and a fly out.

Middlebury added to the lead with a run in the third thanks to a Kristyn Carroll lead-off triple and a Cate Viola RBI double. Bates junior captain Delaney Rankin (Harrison, Maine) was able to get out of the inning without any further damage but the Bobcats found themselves down 2-0 through three innings after they left the bases loaded for the second time in the bottom half of the frame.

Bates got on the board in the bottom of the fifth. With two outs, sophomore Sienna Pietrasiewicz (Norton, Mass.) doubled down the left field line. She advanced to third on a wild pitch and senior Grace Householter (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) followed with an infield single, driving in Pietrasiewicz and cutting the Middlebury lead to 2-1.

The Panthers answered right away, tallying an unearned run in the top of the sixth. A Scholes RBI double extended the Middlebury lead to 4-1 in the top of the seventh.

Bates staged a furious rally in the bottom of the seventh. Sophomore captain Isabel Bettencourt (Peabody, Mass.) got things started with a double to left-center. Two outs later, all appeared lost when Rankin hit a fly ball to left, but the ball got dropped for an error, allowing Bettencourt to score and Rankin to end up on second. Junior Sophie Garber (Wellesley, Mass.) followed with an RBI single to center and Bates trailed 4-3. She advanced to second on a wild pitch, but Ye struck out the next batter, ending the game.

The Bobcats left 12 runners on base in the contest. Junior captain Ella Maher (Newton, Mass.) paced the Bates offense, going 2-3 with a double and a walk. Rankin (8-2) took the loss, scattering nine hits in a complete game effort.

Game Two: Bates 5, Middlebury 3

A pair of Bates pitchers shined in game two, as they did not surrender an earned run in a 5-3 win for the Bobcats over the Panthers.

First-year Haley Alden (Manchester, N.H.) got the start an tossed three innings of shutout ball. Then fellow first-year Brigid Gaffny (North Andover, Mass.) took it the rest of the way, striking out three while scattering five hits in four innings pitched.

The Bobcats grabbed their first lead of the afternoon when they got on the board in the bottom of the third. With one out, sophomore Misora Hashiramoto (Tokyo, Japan) tripled over the left fielder's head. Then with two away, Maher reached on a Middlebury error and Hashiramoto scored to put the Bobcats up 1-0.

But the Panthers (17-5, 4-2 NESCAC) grabbed the lead back with three unearned runs in the top of the fifth. 

A Bates throwing error allowed the lead-off batter to reach. Then Olivia Fleming tripled in a run to tie the game at one. After issuing a walk, Gaffny (3-2) retired the next two batters via a shallow fly out and a strikeout. But an unlucky infield single plated two runners and the Bobcats found themselves in a 3-1 hole.

The Bobcats didn't let the deficit last long. Hashiramoto led off the bottom of the fifth with a single through the right side. Junior Emma Yen (Albertson, N.Y.) doubled her home and Maher doubled in Yen, tying the game at three. That was it for Middlebury starting pitcher Samantha Hausman, as the Panthers brought in Abigail Jankowski (2-1) to try to put out the fire. Sophomore Zariya Anderson (Wayzata, Minn.) drew a walk and one out later Pietrasiewicz reached on an infield single to load the bases. A fielder's choice got Maher at home for the second out of the inning but Garber followed with a clutch two-RBI single, putting Bates up 5-3.

Middlebury threatened in the sixth, putting runners at second and third with two outs. Gaffny was able to get Carroll to hit a grounder to third and Yen threw the runner out at the plate to end the inning.

Scholes doubled with one out in the seventh, but that was it for the Panthers, as Gaffny got a strikeout and a ground out to end the game.

Yen, Garber, and Hashiramoto paced the Bates offense in game two with two hits apiece. Garber finished the doubleheader with three hits and three RBIs.