Clermont, Fla.  – The Trinity College Bantams offense roped 25 hits and totaled 13 runs in a pair of wins over Calvin College, 8-5, and St. Thomas College, 9-2, in softball action today at Hancock Park.  Trinity improves to 5-1 on the year.

The day started off with a thriller for the Bantams, who needed 10-innings in to stave off Calvin College.  Trinity senior co-captain Caroline Blanchard (Norwich, Conn.) doubled the second pitch of the game and came around to score on a single by Erica Correia (Glen Rock, N.J.), but the runs would not come as easy in the middle innings.  Trinity worked their way to two runs in the fourth to go up 3-0, but a big sixth inning for Calvin, including a 2-RBI double by sophomore Merin Cok (Grand Rapids, Mich.) and an RBI single by first-year Megan Rozeveld (Kalamazoo, Mich.) with two outs and a full count, tied the game at 3-3, and eventually forced extra frames.  A standout defensive play at the plate for Trinity prevented a fourth Calvin run from crossing, which turned out to be a key play. 

It was an excitable extra innings, with both teams exchanging runs in the eighth and ninth innings, before Trinity went on top for good, plating three runs in the top of the tenth for an 8-5 lead that would stand as the final score.  In the bottom of the eighth inning, Calvin sophomore Catherine Hilbrands (Grand Rapids, Mich.) hit what appeared might be a game-ending gapper, but a sprinting junior Christina Galese (Fairfield, N.J.) made an athletic outstretched catch to keep the Bantams alive.  Galese led off the ninth with a sacrifice bunt, which set up Blanchard for an RBI single.  The run proved valuable when Calvin answered with a run in the bottom half of the inning. 

The tenth was packed with just as much action, as junior Abigail Ostrom (Carlisle, Mass.) hustled home on an infield single by sophomore Miranda Riendeau-Card (Bowdoinham, Me.), before diving around the tag on a throw to the plate, putting the Bantams up 6-5.  On top of the run, the play gave Trinity more life in the inning, as the Bantams added two two-out runs to take an 8-5 lead.  First-year Amanda Feldman (Natick, Mass.) delivered some clutch outs in relief on the hill for Trinity, earning the win.  The game, which featured several outstanding defensive web gems, ended in fitting style, with an acrobatic diving catch by Blanchard at shortstop on a soft line drive.

Trinity welcomed a less intense afternoon with a 9-2 win over St. Thomas (Me.).  Trinity roped two singles and two doubles in their first four at-bats, plating four runs in the first, and never looked back.  The Bantams added one in the second and fourth, and three more insurance runs in the sixth, and cruised to their fifth win in three days.   

 Trinity returns to action on Thurs., Mar. 20 vs. Plattsburgh State College at 3 p.m. and Babson College at 5 p.m.  Live scoring updates will be provided at athletics.trincoll.edu.  Follow Trinity on Twitter @BantamSports.