Softball (18–6 overall, 2–4 NESCAC) spent this week facing off at home against Wesleyan (9–14 overall, 1–5 NESCAC) and won the three-game series, winning two out of the three games. The weekend series pushed Hamilton to 18–6 overall, the third-best overall record in the NESCAC. In NESCAC standings, the Continentals are tied with Bowdoin for sixth place.
The first game of the series was a 7–6 win on Saturday, Apr. 6. Hamilton took the early lead in the bottom of the first inning, but Wesleyan answered in the top of the second to make the score 3–2. It would stay that way until the fifth inning, when Ashleah Yzaguirre ’19 hit a triple with two outs and scored when Emily Fraser ’20 hit a single to the pitcher in the next at-bat. Fraser scored on a double from Kendall Searcy ’20, who then scored on a triple from Helen Lin ’19.
Though Wesleyan grabbed another run at the top of the seventh, Hamilton responded with two runs to seal the win. Yzaguirre was perfect at the plate with 3 hits, including 2 triples. Fraser had a game-high 3 RBIs. The hit from Fraser was her 100th of the season, a feat achieved by Yzaguirre earlier in the season as well. Caroline Chivily ’19 and Searcy also hit doubles. Wesleyan had only one double during the game. Morgan Hartranft ’22 had four strikeouts and allowed only 3 runs on six hits.
Wesleyan came back with a vengeance later in that day to win 9–3 with an explosive 5-run ninth inning. Caitlin Berreitter ’20 started the first inning with a double and advanced to third and then scored on a bunt from Yzaguirre. The next three innings were uneventful until Wesleyan took the lead in the top of the fourth with a three-run inning.
The bottom of the fourth, Hamilton had two runs. The first was from Vicky Dunn ’22 who hit a double to left field and moved to third place on yet another hit from Yzaguirre, a double down the left line. A Fraser single moved Dunn to home plate, and a sacrifice fly from Searcy got Yzaguirre in for the second run of the inning. However, Hamilton couldn’t respond to the 5-run ninth inning from Wesleyan and lost 9–3, splitting the day.
The Sunday, Apr. 7 game was rescheduled from Friday, Apr. 5 and was a strangely low-scoring game from both teams. The game ended up a 1–0 win for the Continentals, with a shutout for pitchers Morgan Hartranft ’22 and Claire O’Brien ’21. They held Wesleyan to only two hits throughout 7 innings. Hartranft didn’t allow a hit until the sixth inning, and O’Brien came in as relief after.
The lone run from the game came in the bottom of the fourth inning. The action started when Fraser advanced to first base on a walk and then to second base off of a sacrifice bunt from Liz Brautigam ’19. A ground ball sent her to third, and Searcy’s single past the shortstop sent Fraser home. Hamilton avoided a run in the seventh inning when Wesleyan, with two players on base and two outs, hit a ball to first base. Yzaguirre collected it and beat the Wesleyan batter to first to finish the top of the seventh inning and the game. Lin and Berreitter each had doubles during the game as well.
Hamilton looks to move up in NESCAC standings and will hopefully do so, as their overall record sits at third in the conference. Individual players and strong team play are driving the team’s success so far. Fraser and Yzaguirre lead the Continentals in batting average with an incredible 0.479 and 0.439, respectively. Fraser leads the NESCAC in RBIs and batting average. Dunn and Berreitter each have batting averages over 0.400 and five more players have averages over 0.300, lending the team incredible depth when Hamilton is at bat. Their team batting average in conference games is 0.359
This weekend, Yzaguirre hit the 80 RBI mark, and Fraser, Berreitter, and Lin all have over 60 RBIs so far this season. Hartranft, O’Brien, and Dez DePaulis ’19 have been the Continentals go-to pitchers, with Hartranft leading with 60.2 innings pitched. Hartranft is second in the NESCAC with nine wins, and is fourth in the conference for ERA (earned runs average) with 2.08.
Amazingly, Hamilton is in first or tied for first in these NESCAC categories: runs (168), hits (239), triples (13), RBIs (143), total bases (328), strikeouts (46), batting average (0.359), on-base percentage (0.421), and slugging percentage (0.493). With such strong NESCAC performance, it seems that the Continentals are poised to improve in the NESCAC rankings and continue to the playoffs.
Softball will play at home again in a three-game series against Middlebury College on the Loop Road Complex. The first game will be Friday, Apr. 19 at 5:00 PM and the second two game will be on Saturday, Apr. 20 at 12:00 PM and 2:00 PM.
