LEWISTON, Maine - Karen Lockhart ripped five extra base hits and four RBIs to help lead the Bates softball team to a double-header sweep of Fisher College in non-conference action Monday afternoon. The Bobcats took the first game, 11-3 in six innings, and won the second game, 9-4.
Lockhart (East Greenwich, R.I.) collected a pair of triples and a home run between the two games and now leads the Bobcats with 10 RBIs and three triples on the season. Maddie Inlow (Falmouth, Maine) was also a force at the plate, with a combined four hits, including two doubles, for the day. Kelsey Freedman (Falmouth, Maine) posted the win in game one for Bates (5-17, 1-7, NESCAC), striking out nine, while Brenna Callahan (Milton, Mass.) notched her first win of the season in game two. Fisher (6-25) was led by Mikayla Zimmerman (Corona, Calif.), who collected three hits and three RBIs in the two games.
The Bobcats are right back in action on Tuesday, April 21, when they travel to the University of Maine-Farmington for a non-conference double header beginning at 3:00 p.m.
Game one: Bates 11, Fisher 3 (Six innings)
The Bobcats pounded out nine hits, including a pair of four-run innings with one of the best offensive performances of the season in game one, receiving multi-hit games from three different players. Lockhart was 2-4 while Inlow and Callahan also recorded two hits. Paige Ahlholm (North Andover, Mass.) was 1-2 with a pair of RBIs. Bates was also aggressive on the base paths, stealing four bases in the first game.
The Falcons jumped on the board early, as Jayla Vega (Hoboken, N.J.) scored on an error to give Fisher the 1-0 lead in the first inning.
The Bobcats responded in the bottom of the second with four runs off of Falcon pitcher Vega, taking advantage of four walks a wild pitch. Bates added two runs in the bottom of the third on an Ahlholm single to left that scored Inlow and Jenney Abbott (Rangeley, Maine) to make the score 6-1 after three. Fisher added a run in the fifth, but Bates tallied four runs on three hits in the bottom of the fifth, highlighted by a two-out triple to right center from Lockhart.
In the bottom of the sixth, Abbott walked to start the frame and Inlow tripled to right field to bring home the winning run, ending the game after six innings.
Freedman allowed three runs, only one earned, on five hits while striking out nine on the afternoon.
Game two: Bates 9, Fisher 4
The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the third inning, when Inlow launched her second triple of the day to right center field, driving home Lockhart, who doubled to start the inning. Inlow eventually scored on a wild pitch, giving Bates the 2-0 lead.
The score remained 2-0 with Bates in front until the top of the fifth, when Fisher capitalized on a pair of Bobcat miscues and some timely hitting to score three runs. Emily Smith (Oxford, N.Y.), who singled, came around to score the inning's first run on an error, and Zimmerman doubled to center to drive home two more runs and give Fisher the 3-2 lead.
The Bobcats regained the lead in the bottom of the fifth, courtesy of a two-run single from Ahlholm, to put Bates on top, 4-3. The Bobcats put the game away in the bottom of the sixth when Lockhart launched a two-run no-doubter over the left field fence for her first home run of the year and her fifth extra base hit on the day. Four batters later, Victoria Fitzgerald (Holliston, Mass.) laced a two-run single to center to make it 9-3 Bates.
Fisher scored one in the top of the seventh, but Callahan was able to get Christine Briggs (Rumford, Maine) to foul out for the final out of the game.
Lockhart was 3-4 with two RBIs and three runs scored in game two, while Inlow was 2-3 with two runs scored, an RBI and a walk.
Callahan allowed four runs, only one earned, on eight hits while striking out five. Mound opponent Zimmerman took the loss for Fisher, allowing nine runs, six earned, on nine hits while striking out four. Zimmerman and Selmi each had two hits for the Falcons, and Zimmerman led the way with three RBIs.
Fisher will return to action this weekend when they take on the College of St. Joseph's of Vermont in a weekend doubleheader series. First pitch on both Saturday and Sunday will be at 12:00 P.M. at Breed Field in Lynn, Mass. Their games scheduled for Tuesday afternoon against Thomas College have been cancelled due to weather.