HARTFORD, Conn. - Junior 3B Michaela Russell (Boston, Mass.) reached base safely in seven of her eight times at bat, scoring twice and walking twice, hitting three singles and a triple, driving in a run, and stealing three bases, to lead the Trinity College Bantams to an 8/7-1/1 doubleheader sweep against the visiting Bates College Bobcats in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) East Division softball action this afternoon.  The teams, who were both playing in their division opening games, will complete the three-game series tomorrow at 10 a.m.

Trinity took a 3-0 lead after one inning of the first game on two walks, an error and an RBI single by senior co-captain C Alex Chambers (East Lyme, Conn.).  Bates scored an unearned run in the third frame, but Trinity tacked on four more runs in the fourth inning two on a double by sophomore 2B Gianna Tito (East Hanover, N.J.) and another on a double by classmate Alyssa Gazivoda (Poughquag, N.Y.).  Bantam rookie Taylor Mikolajczak (John's Creek, Ga.) added an RBI single in the fifth inning.  Chambers finished 2-for-3 with a double and a walk and senior CF Maura Keary (Fairfield, Conn.) was 2-for-4 with two runs.  Kennedy Ishii was 3-for-4 for Bates.  In the circle, Trinity senior Jordan Stephan (South Orange, N.J.) went the distance and allowed eight hits and one walk with three strikeouts.  Danielle Polirer took the loss for the Bobcats.

In game two, Trinity sophomore RHP Tiffany Stowers (Burke, Va.) tossed a three-hitter with one walk and three K's, yielding just a single run in the seventh inning. Gazivoda scored the game's first run on a double steal and the Bantams broke it open with four more in the fifth frame.  Keary tripled in a run and scored on a wild pitch, while Gazivoda added a two-out, two-run single in the inning.  Trinity scored twice more in the sixth with Russell driving Keary home on a two-out hit for the second run of the inning.  Maggie Hillwig took the loss for Bates.