Middletown, Conn. - The Trinity College Bantams swept a doubleheader at Wesleyan University in softball action this afternoon, cruising to a 10-0, five-inning victory in the opening game and rallying with a pair of runs in the seventh and two more in the eighth for a 6-4, eight-inning win in the nightcap. Trinity improves to 19-9, while Wesleyan fell to 9-18. The doubleheader sweep was the first for Trinity over Wesleyan since 2006, as the teams split twinbills in 2007, 2008 and 2010 and played a single game in 2009.

Freshman Christina Galese (Fairfield, N.J.) was the hero for the Bantams in the nightcap, as she crushed a ball over the fence in right-center with two outs in the eighth to give Trinity a 6-4 lead it would not relinquish. Wesleyan junior Dana Levy (Westport, Conn.) induced a foul pop-up and comebacker to retire the first two batters of the inning before surrendering Galese's blast, which also scored sophomore Amelia Mostovoy (San Francisco, Calif.), who had been placed on second base to begin the inning. Bantam junior Katherine Poulos (Wilton, Conn.) retired the first Wesleyan batter in the bottom of the eighth on a line drive and struck out the next two hitters to preserve the victory.

Trinity had tied the score at 4-4 in the top of the seventh. Senior Katherine Stoltenberg (Montgomery, N.J.) and sophomore Caroline Blanchard (Norwich, Conn.) opened the inning with back-to-back singles, and a passed ball moved both runners into scoring position. Freshman Abby Ostrom (Carlisle, Mass.) plated Stoltenberg with a single through the left side, and following a flyout, sophomore Kerry McCarthy (Andover, Mass.) tied the game with an RBI grounder to third that brought home Blanchard.

Wesleyan had moved out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning thanks to junior Sam Epstein (Hewlett, N.Y.). With one out, Levy walked, and junior Chrissy Bello (Upper Brookville, N.Y.) followed with a single down the third-base line. A groundout advanced both runners and brought up Epstein, who homered to straightaway center, her second of the year.  Trinity cut its deficit to 3-1 in the second when Poulos scored McCarthy with a groundout, but Wesleyan made it 4-1 in the fifth as sophomore Allee Beatty (Redding, Conn.) scored on a squeeze bunt by senior Talia Bernstein (Miami, Fla.). Trinity made it a 4-2 game in the sixth, taking advantage of sloppy Wesleyan play. Senior Nicole Nardella (Beverly, Mass.) reached on an error to begin the inning, then advanced to second on another error before being lifted for pinch-runner Kristina Yu (Andover, Mass.). Yu advanced to third on a fielder's choice and scored on a wild pitch.  Both Levy and Poulos went the distance for their respective teams, with Poulos improving her record to 8-5 and Levy falling to 3-6.     

Trinity cruised to a mercy-rule victory in the first game, tagging Wesleyan freshman Laura Getchell (Raymond, Maine) for seven runs (six earned) in 3.2 innings of work. Consecutive one-out singles by Blanchard, Ostrom, Nardella and McCarthy followed by a grounder to second gave the Bantams a 2-0 lead in the first, and the visitors added two more in the second on a bases-loaded walk by Blanchard and sacrifice fly by Nardella.  Trinity broke the game open in the fourth. Getchell retired the first two batters, but Ostrom reached on an infield single and Nardella doubled to left-center to put two runners on. McCarthy singled up the middle to score both runners and took second on the throw, and a single by Mostovoy plated the Bantams' seventh run.  Trinity added three more runs in the fifth. With one out, Blanchard doubled to right to score freshman Kaitlyn Della Jacono (Stamford, Conn.) and Galese, who had opened the inning with infield singles. Blanchard advanced to third on the throw home and scored on a wild pitch to make the score 10-0.

The 10 runs were more than enough for senior Kristen Anderson (West Haven, Conn.), who scattered four hits and struck out four in improving to 10-3.  Anderson did not allow a Wesleyan runner to reach second base until there were two outs in the fifth, and only four of the 19 Wesleyan batters she faced hit the ball out of the infield. Freshman Jess Shevins (Tenafly, N.J.) threw the final 1.1 innings for Wesleyan in relief of Getchell. 

The doubleheader was originally scheduled for Saturday, April 23, but was moved up one day in anticipation of rain.  Wesleyan returns to the field on Wednesday, April 27, hosting Coast Guard Academy in a non-conference tilt. Trinity's next action comes the following Friday, when the Bantams host Tufts University in the first game of a three-game set that will likely decide the NESCAC East champion.

Game 1 box score

Game 2 box score