Waterville, Maine - Sophomore OF Samantha Witmer (Drexel Hill, Pa.) went 4-for-8 with four RBIs to lead the visiting Trinity College Bantams to a 5/8-3/2 doubleheader sweep in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) East Division softball action this afternoon.  The Bantams improve to 17-12 overall and 7-4 in the NESCAC East, sweep the three-game series at Colby, and can clinch the No. 2 seed in the division with a win at Bates tomorrow at 11 a.m.  Colby ends its year at 4-28 overall and finishes with an 0-12 mark in the division with its 15th setback in a row.

Trinity rallied back from a 3-1 deficit after six innings to score four times in the top of the seventh inning to steal the first game.  Bantam rookie reached on an error to start the inning and Witmer followed with a single.  Trinity senior tri-captain SS Courtney Erickson (Everett, Mass.) drove home both with a single to right field to tie the game at 3-all, and sophomore Hannah Zukowski (Burlington, Conn.) put the Bantams ahead with a two-run homer.  The Mules put their first two runners on base with a walk and a single, but junior tri-captain Lindsay Pressman (Farmingdale, N.Y.) came through with the final three outs on a pop-up to herself and two strikeouts to earn the win in relief.

Trinity had taken a 1-0 lead in the third inning on a double by Keary and an RBI single by Witmer.  Colby tied the game in the fourth frame on an RBI double by sophomore Lolo Niemiec (Shingle Springs, Calif.), who came around to score on a ground ball to make it, 2-1.  The Mules added a run in the fifth inning on an RBI single by freshman Ashley Ketcham (Tucson, Ariz.), but were held to just one run despite loading the bases.  Pressman improved to 3-3 with three innings of scoreless reilef, while rookie starter Jordan Stephan (South Orange, Calif.) allowed two earned runs over four. Wiley Holton went the distance for the Mules with six K's, but allowed nine hits and four earned runs.  Witmer and Zukowski had two hits apiece for the Trinity offense, and Ketchum was 2-for-4 at the plate for Colby.

In game two, junior RHP Madeline Spencer-Orrell (Northampton, Mass.) improved to 9-3, scattering seven hits and walking none with three strikeouts in seven innings for the Bantams.  Colby scored first on a two-out, run-scoring single by sophomore Hailey Rohall (Weston, Mass.) in the first inning in each of the next three frames and twice each in the sixth and seventh innings.  The Bantams tied it at 1-1 in the second stanza when sophomore CF Jenna Thomas (Orange, Conn.) led off with a walk and scored on a ground ball by classmate Gillian Burk (Westport, Conn.).  Witmer knocked home the go-ahead run two batters later with a two-out hit.

Zukowski and Witmer added RBI singles in the third and fourth inning, respectively, but Ketchum singled and scored on an error for Colby in the fifth to make the score, 4-2.  Erickson blasted a solo home run, while Zukowski doubled and scored on a single by Thomas in the sixth inning, while sophomore 3B Cassidy Schiff (Darien, Conn.) and Witmer had Trinity RBIs in the seventh.  Erickson, Keary, Witmer, and Zukowski each had two hits, while Ketchum and freshman Paige Bober (Whitinsville, Mass.) had two hits for the Mules.