Wellesley Softball Rallies Past Middlebury To Conclude Florida Trip With 8-5 Win

CLERMONT, Fla. -- Wellesley College softball concluded their annual spring training trip to Florida with an 8-5 come-from-behind victory over Middlebury College on Wednesday at the Legends Way Ballfields at the National Training Center. Trailing 4-2 going into the seventh inning, the Blue scored six runs to rally for the victory and improve to 5-2 on the season and in Clermont. Middlebury is now 6-4 on the year.

Senior Ashtyn Coleman (Scottsdale, Ariz.) delivered the big hit in the top of the seventh, clearing the bases when her RBI single to left escaped the grasp of the Middlebury outfield. Three runs scored on the play, with Coleman picking up a pair of RBIs. Coleman was one of four players to finish with two hits for the Blue, along with classmate Anna Pisac (Snohomish, Wash.), sophomore Veronica Locher (Walnut Creek, Calif.) and first year Autumn Brown (Marshfield, Mass.). Brown and Locher both picked-up doubles for the Blue, while Brown also had two RBIs.

Middlebury junior Kati Daczkowsi (Pittsburgh, Pa.) finished the game 3-for-4 at the dish with an RBI and a run scored. Marybeth Stone (Shillington, Pa.), Melanie Mandell (Harrison, N.Y.), Hye-Jin Kim (West Windsor, N.J.) and Ali Della Volpe (Concord, Mass.) each had two hits for the Panthers, who collected 13 as a team. Daczkowski, Mandell, Kim, Della Volpe and junior Taylor Gardner (Carlsbad, Calif.) all had RBIs. Sophomore Irene Margiotta (Mendham, N.J.) pitched seven innings, giving up eight runs, seven earned, and walked eight to drop to 3-2 on the season.

The Panthers got two runs in the bottom of the first inning, when Gardner delivered a sacrifice fly to score first year Olivia Bravo (Falls Church, Va.) from third and Mandell singled to left to score Daczkowski. The Panthers carried the lead until the top of the fourth inning when the Blue got both runs back. Pisac started the rally, hitting a single and stealing second. She then scored on a single from Locher. First year Kalei Oliver (Vista, Calif.) then replaced Locher on the basepaths on a fielder's choice before scoring on a double from Brown.

The Blue quickly fell behind following the home half of the fourth, when Middlebury got both runs back thanks to a pair of RBI singles from Della Volpe and Daczkowski. The Panthers held the lead until the seventh when Wellesley was finally able to get to Margiotta. The Blue scored six runs on six hits, including Coleman's bases clearing knock to left. Oliver, Brown and Warner all followed with RBI singles to send the Blue to the bottom of the inning leading 8-4.

Middlebury scored one run in the bottom of the seventh, on an RBI single from Kim, but the game ended with runners on the corners when Wellesley sophomore Sydney Hopper (Newcastle, Wash.) got Bravo to fly out to left. Hopper earned the save, the first of her career, coming on in relief of starter Madeline Bianchi (Lakeville, Minn.), who went 6.1 innings, giving up five runs, four earned, while striking out four to improve to 2-2.

Wellesley will return north to host Coast Guard in a New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) doubleheader on Friday, March 31, at 2:30 PM. Middlebury will travel to Castleton for a 1:00 PM doubleheader on Sunday, April 2, at 1:00 PM.