25 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
(05/02/19 9:55am)
Middlebury played its last series this weekend; they closed out the season with a five game losing streak.
The team played hard, but they were not able to snag a win from the Amherst Mammoths. The Panthers played twice on Saturday, April 28, losing 4-1 in the first game and 12-4 in the second with only six innings completed. Saturday morning, Amherst took a 3-1 lead by the third inning, and the Panthers weren’t able to close the gap. In game two, the Mammoths established themselves early, taking a 5-2 lead by the top of the second. The Panthers tried to close the gap in the bottom of a third, bringing the score to 5-4 with runs completed by Sophia Marlino ’22 and Melanie Mandell ’19. Sunday, the Panthers played their final game and lost 7-0. However, the team showed up with a strong defense, holding off the Mammoths from earning a single run until the top of the fifth.
The team played 29 games this season and finished with a 12-17 record. They won 41.4% of their games, which is down from 64.5% (20-11) in 2018 and 54.7% (17-14-1) in 2017. Their PCT for conference games this year was .364 which is relatively comparable to the past two years, .445 in 2018 and .333 in 2017. They have a cumulative batting average of .326, up from .312 in 2018 and slightly lower than .341 in 2017. The team’s on-base percentage is consistent with what it has been for the past two years, .401 this season, up from .383 in 2018 and .398 in 2017. The team also kept on par with the number of homeruns his, 17 this season compared to 18 from last season.
This weekend, the Panthers are set to play in the NESCAC Tournament, beginning on May 3. Middlebury will face the hosting Jumbos in the first round of the tournament. Tufts is currently ranked No. 1 in the East; Middlebury is ranked No. 4 in the West. Last year Tufts made it to game 6, or round two of the Championship, while Middlebury played in game 3 but lost to Bowdoin.
(04/25/19 9:56am)
While the softball team did not quite live up to last week’s strong performance, the Panthers were able to capture two wins out of five games, splitting the series against Union College and defeating Hamilton in the last game.
On Wednesday, April 17, the team played a double header against Union. They lost the first game 13-5 in only five innings but came back strong in the second game beating the Dutchmen 19-7 in six innings. In the second game, the players started out strong, making three runs in the first inning. With remarkable defense, Union was unable to score until the fourth inning. The Dutchmen, however, managed to pull ahead, bringing the game to 3-5 in the bottom of the fifth. Hungry for a win, the Panthers scored 16 runs in the top of the sixth.
Despite this amazing feat against Union, the team followed it up with a two-game losing streak against Hamilton: 7-8 on Friday and 6-18 on Saturday. They came back on Saturday night against Hamilton, defeating them by a slim 6-4. Having fallen behind in the bottom of the second 1-3, they pulled ahead 6-3 with exciting runs in the top of the third, with Olivia Bravo ’20, Sophie Bolinger ’22, Emily Moore ’21, Melanie Mandell ’20 and Liza Tarr ’19 each scoring runs. The Continentals were unable to bridge the gap and lost the third game in the series.
On Monday, April 22, Middlebury matched up against Castleton and fell to the Spartans in both games. Although incredibly close, they were beat out by one run in both games; 5-4 in the first and 11-10 in the second. Despite the loss, the Panthers achieved notable feats. Mandell, Noelle Ruschil ’22, Sophia Marlino ’22, and Kaylee Gumm ’21 all scored home runs. Ruschil and Mandell both added to their collection of completed home runs against Union and Hamilton, respectively, in the past week.
The Panthers have an incredibly young team; ten of their 16 players are underclassmen (six first-years and four sophomores). In addition, the Panthers have played fewer games (and therefore far fewer series) than the teams they compete against. Hamilton, in addition to having a really solid season, has played 33 games (25-8); Castleton has played 29 (13-16), which can be compared to to Middlebury’s 26 (12-14).
The Panthers will play their final series against Amherst this weekend, and the match is expected to be close given Middlebury has not beaten the Mammoths since 2016. With the ups and downs, these last three games will be critical for a successful end to their season.
(04/18/19 9:57am)
Last week, when asked about softball’s recent defeats, captain Irene Margiotta ’19 said that the team was “young but extremely talented [...] and we are looking forward to giving it our all in the next few conference weekends to come.” Margiotta and the rest of the team lived up to the mindset as the Panthers demonstrated strong performances this week, winning four of their five games.
On Wednesday, April 10, they competed in a double-header (both games rescheduled from late March) against Keene State. The team won the first game by the skin on their teeth as Keene let both Emily Moore ’21 and Melanie Mandell ’20 walk. However, they lost the second game 13-9 in only five innings. The game started off looking great for the home team, as the women scored five runs in the first inning. The Owls, thirsty for a win scored six runs in the second inning and four in the third, giving them a lead that the Panthers weren’t able to catch up to.
But the Panthers brought it back strong in a series against Wesleyan this past weekend. Middlebury crushed the Cardinals 19-6, scoring 13 runs in the final two innings of the game. They carried that success into their next two games. The women won 3-2 in the morning and 4-1 in the afternoon. On Saturday morning the women started out strong, completing a run at the top of the first thanks to a single from Rookie Sophie Bolinger and a triple from Mandell. Caroline Thacker ’21 amazed us all, pitching five shutout innings.
Mandell represented the Panthers well, earning herself the title of NESCAC Player of the Week. In the Wesleyan series her hit percentage was at 67%, making eight of her 12 at bats. Mandell also managed to achieve an on base percentage of 71% — an amazing feat. Bolinger also made key plays this week in both the Keene and Wesleyan series. Her bunt Friday against Wesleyan loaded the bases and allowed the women to get three runs at the top of the second. She also helped load the bases in Middlebury’s second game last week against Keene, contributing to the five run lead they earned in the first inning.
The Panthers will play two games against Union college on Wednesday, April 17. They will also head into a series against Hamilton this weekend. The Hamilton games will not be won without a fight. Although Middlebury generally beats Hamilton, a clean sweep will be critical for the team this weekend.
(04/11/19 9:53am)
The Panthers started off the season strong, winning their first four games. Since then, however, they seemed to have lost their momentum. Spring break was supposed to be an opportunity for them to thrive and build off their success from the previous week, but it appears that their glory was rather short-lived, losing five of their seven spring break games in Florida. They struggled in the first half of the week, but they seemed to pull it together, winning two-thirds of the games in the last few days of their trip.
Unfortunately, they were no more successful this weekend against Williams, who is undefeated in the conference. Williams has managed to beat Middlebury in every softball game that the schools have played against each other since 2015. Williams beat the girls by a wider margin than usual, 10-1 and 18-1 on Saturday and 11-1 on Sunday. Over the past few seasons, it has been typical for Williams to win by no more than 6 runs. Two of the three games only went to the 5th inning. That being said, the Panthers made some solid plays during their games. Captain Liza Tarr ’19 had a great weekend; she brought home the team’s only run by slamming in a home run during Saturday’s second game, and on Sunday, she stopped the Ephs from stealing bases. Rookie Sophia Marlino continues establish herself as an asset to the Panthers. On Saturday morning, her deep double allowed Sophie Bolinger ’22 to score the only run of the game. On Sunday morning, she scored in the first inning, the only completed run of the game.
Before break softball was 4-0, but unfortunately, they’re now 6-8. The Panthers have high hopes for Wednesday against Keene State, who they haven’t played in the past several years. Keene State doesn’t seem to be having the best season either, as of Monday April 8, 2019, they’re 5-11.
(03/21/19 9:55am)
This weekend, the Middlebury Softball team had its season opener and won all four games they played. They managed to pull off the wins despite having double headers both Saturday and Sunday against New Rochelle and Drew. On Saturday, the Panthers set off the season right, scoring in every single inning. They swept the floor against New Rochelle, clearing the opener at 11-0. They carried that success onto the second game, where they brought it home at 13-3.
The Panthers brought the fire again against Drew, ending the first game in seven innings at 8-2 and the second game in five innings at 11-0. Rookie Noelle Ruschil ’22 and Sara Tobias ’22 electrified us all with back to back homers in the fourth inning of the first game against Drew. “Starting off undefeated properly shows the effort put in during the offseason,” said Ruschil ’22, when asked how she felt about the teams success.
Over the weekend, two players earned NESCAC honors. Sophia Marlino ’22 and Irene Margiotta ’19 were awarded Player of the Week and Pitcher of the week, respectively. Marlino ended her first four college games with a batting average of .643 and driving in 11 runs and scoring in nine times. Rookie Marlino also impressed with three home runs. With seven-eighths of the season still remaining, the Panthers managed to get 26 percent of last season’s runs. The girls are hungry for a killer season. “I’m very excited to continue the season with them and to keep doing what we’re doing,” said Ruschill ’22. The Panthers travel to Florida next week, where they’ll compete against non-Northeast schools such as Oberlin College and Carleton.