Hartford, Conn. – Sophomore RHP Hannah King (Kennebunk, Maine) tossed a three-hitter with 11 strikeouts in the first game and scattered seven hits over five innings with four K's, without a walk in either game, to lead the Trinity College Bantams to a 3/13-0/5 doubleheader sweep against the visiting Bates College Bobcats in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) East Division softball action this afternoon.  Trinity improves to 4-9 overall and 2-0 in the NESCAC East, while the Bobcats drop to 2-6 overall and 0-2 in the league.  The teams will complete the three-game series in Hartford tomorrow at 11 a.m.

King pitched a perfect three innings to start the opener, striking out the side in the second frame, while the Trinity offense struck immediately when sophomore 3B Erica Correa (Glen Rock, N.J.) and junior 1B Miranda Riendeau-Card (Bowdoinham, Maine) both drove home runs on bases-loaded walks.  The Bantams added an insurance run in the fifth inning on a lead-off single by senior tri-captain SS Abigail Ostrom (Carlisle, Mass.) and a two-out, RBI single to right field by Riendeau-Card.  Bates had runners on first and second in the sixth and seventh innings, but could not drive the runs in.  King fanned the final two batters of the game to end Bates' final threat.  Trinity sophomore 2B Elizabeth McQuaid (Lowell, Mass.) was 2-for-4 with two stolen bases, while sophomore Alex Eliopoulos (Akron, Ohio) had two hits for the Bobcats.  Bates senior co-captain Kelsey Freedman (Falmouth, Maine) went the distance in the circle, allowing seven hits and one earned run with seven strikeouts and three walks.

Bates struck first in the second game, as junior Kira Shaikh (Manchester, Conn.) blasted a grand slam over the center field fence in the top of the first inning to plate four unearned runs.  Trinity got one run back in the bottom of the first on a two-out, run-scoring hit by Riendeau-Card, and the King relieved rookie starter Lily Jewell (Carlisle, Mass.) in the top of the second frame.  After two scoreless innings, McQuaid answered Shaikh's blast with a Trinity grand slam to put the Bantams in front, 5-4.  Freedman came in for Bobcat junior starter Brenna Callahan (Milton, Mass.) and ended the Trinity rally with runners on second and third with a strikeout, but the Bantams scored once more in the next inning on a lead-off single by sophomore Bianca Brenz (Lawrence, Mass.), a Bates error, and two passed balls. 

Bates scored in the top of the sixth inning on a lead-off double by senior co-captain Alayna Garbarino (Newark, N.J.), a single by Shaikh, and an RBI single by sophomore Anna Berenson (Topsfield, Mass.).  In the bottom of the inning, the Bantams erupted for seven runs to win by mercy rule, as Trinity senior tri-captain C Olivia Berry (Quincy, Mass.) knocked the third grand slam homer of the game to highlight the frame.  McQuaid was hit by a pitch with two outs later in the inning and scored on another HBP, a passed ball, and a wild pitch to end the game.  Riendeau-Card finished 3-for-4 with two RBI and McQuaid was 3-for-4 with two runs, and four RBI.  Shaikh was 2-for-3 with four RBI, while Freedman and Berenson also had two hits for Bates.