LEWISTON, Maine -- Bates swept Trinity College on Senior Day Saturday at Lafayette Street Field, earning a postseason berth and locking up the No. 7 seed in the upcoming NESCAC Softball Championship Tournament.
Bates' positioning was secured via its head-to-head sweep of Wesleyan on April 17, with Saturday's results finishing the job.
Prior to first pitch, Bates honored seniors
Sophie Garber,
Ella Maher,
Delaney Rankin, and
Emma Yen.
GAME ONE
The opener turned on one defensive moment—and what came immediately after it.
Clinging to a one-run lead late, junior center fielder Zariya Anderson made a full-extension diving catch in the right-center gap to rob Trinity catcher Isabella Calagna of extra bases. The play loomed even larger seconds later, when the Bantams' next hitter, McKenna True, ripped a ball to nearly the same spot—this time for a double. Instead of tying the game, Trinity was still chasing.
That sequence preserved Bates' edge, and Brigid Gaffny (3-7) closed out a complete-game effort in the circle. The sophomore scattered nine hits and allowed just one earned run in the 4-3 victory.
Bates erased an early 2-0 deficit with a tally in the third and a two-run fourth frame, highlighted by a run-inducing wild pitch and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Yen. After Trinity pulled even in the fifth, the Bobcats answered in the sixth when Anderson delivered again—this time with an RBI double to right-center to plate the eventual game-winner.
GAME TWO
After Trinity tied the game with a solo home run in the seventh by LF Kellie Schroffner, Bates responded in extra innings. Maher led off the eighth with a double, and moments later came around to score on a misplayed ball in center (off the bat of Garber), pushing across the decisive run for a 2-1 victory.
Bates broke through first in the sixth when Sienna Pietrasiewicz doubled home Maya Lee (single) from first base, but needed the extra-inning push to secure the sweep.
Isabella Albro (5-3) went the distance in the circle, allowing just one run over eight innings while working around six hits. Trinity ace, Erin Connor (8-4) suffered the defeat (7.1 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 4 K).
The Bobcats (17-18, 7-11 NESCAC), securing their second-straight postseason berth (third in four years).
