Keene State Softball traveled to Middlebury, Vt., on Wednesday, April 1, for a doubleheader against the Middlebury College Panthers, ultimately splitting the two games.
The Owls took an early lead in the first inning of the first game with six runs. With the bases loaded and already up 1-0, first-year designated hitter Gianna Garofola gave the Owls a 5-0 lead with a grand slam to left field. Before the inning ended, first-year right fielder Anna Gostkowski added an RBI single to increase the lead to six. Middlebury got going early and ended up going three up, three down. In the second inning, KSC added five more runs to make the score 11-0. Three runs were scored by Gostkowski’s double to left center field, and the Owls maintained pressure throughout the inning. Middlebury responded by scoring three runs in the fourth and three more in the fifth, then turning to sophomore pitcher Mia Gilham after starting sophomore pitcher Emily Ye, but Keene State sealed the 13-6 victory with one final run in the eighth on a bases-loaded walk by Gostkowski.
Gostkowski went two for four with five RBI, and Garofola got two hits and five RBI, including a home run. The Owls had first-year Ashley Connors pitching for five innings, letting up six runs, then let sophomore Olivia Souers come in on the relief pitch to complete the victory.
The second game went completely differently. Middlebury took the lead in the third inning when sophomore catcher Livy Shultz hit a two-run home run to left center, making the score 2-0. Keene State cut the lead by one in the fourth when junior shortstop Elyse Picard scored on a wild pitch, but Middlebury responded with runs in the bottom of the half to extend the lead to four. Picard scored another run for the Owls in the fifth on an RBI single by Gostkowski, but in the fifth inning, the Panthers scored five runs to increase their lead to 10-1 and close out the game in the final inning.
First-year infielder/pitcher Emily Dowd from Middlebury completed her game through all five innings, recording one strikeout against the Owls while clutching her sixth win of the year. Dowd had a good day on the mound, only allowing the Owls two runs on five hits while also allowing five walks. First-year pitcher Jaelyn Boretti suffered the loss for the Owls with a record of 1-2 after letting up three runs in three innings.
The loss leaves Keene State with an overall record of 9-6 for the season, while Middlebury improves to 16-2 on the season. While the Panthers are one of the better teams in the region based on their win-loss record, the Owls stand at 2-2 in their conference matches with games left to be played.
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