CLERMONT, Fla. — Tiffany Stowers (Burke, Va.) led the Trinity College softball team on the mound and at the plate in game one of a two-team doubleheader with Buffalo State University as the junior brought home Gianna Tito (East Hanover, N.J.) for the game-tying run and secured her third win in the 4-3 victory over the Bengals on Friday. Trinity lost steam in the second game with Millikin University as the team dropped a 12-1 contest. The Bantams improved to 3-7 overall, while Buffalo State and the Big Blue moved 5-4 and 10-6, respectively. Trinity opens New England Small College Athletic Conference play in their home opener with nearby Wesleyan University for a noon doubleheader on April 1.

Taylor Mikolajczak (Johns Creek, Ga.) lit up the scoreboard with a run off a wild pitch in the opening inning to quickly put the Navy & Gold up, 1-0, before Buffalo State retaliated with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first off a groundout to second base and a slippery single through the right side. Mikolajczak landed herself in scoring position with a single to the pitcher, followed by a stolen base on the next play. Tito's groundout to third base allowed the sophomore to advance to third, before taking advantage of the wild pitch with Kennedy Rogers (Pomona, Calif.) at bat.

Stowers denied the Bengals a chance to pad the lead by one in the second inning with a great throw to catcher Alyssa Gazivoda (Poughquag N.Y.) as Deme Kellogg was thrown out at home plate. In the following frame, Stowers singled up the middle as Tito crossed the plate for an unearned run after the junior reached on a fielder's choice to beat the doubleplay to keep the inning alive and avoid the potential third out. A fielding error by the shortstop put Rogers on first as Tito advanced to second, before rounding third base and coming home one batter later. Three innings later, Gazivoda singled up the middle to bring home Lizzie Nelson (Rockville, Md.) and Stowers with unearned runs after Nelson reached first on a fielding error by third base and Stowers advanced to second. Stowers advanced to third base off a fly out to right field by Erin Steed (Orland Park, Ill.) and a play later Nelson stole second before the catcher connected to bring the pair home.

Mikolajczak again opened the first inning with a run, this time with a homerun out of left field to put Trinity on the board as the Big Blue still led, 3-1. Millikin notched a trio of runs in the opening frame followed by nine across the third and sixth innings.

Across both games, Mikolajczak landed on base six out of the second-year's seven times at bat and went 3-for-4 with two runs, an RBI and a trio of walks. Stowers had a perfect outing against Buffalo state after going 4-4 with a run and an RBI, the junior hit 1-for-3 in the second game. At the plate, Gazivoda went 2-for-6 with a pair of RBIs, as Steed hit 1-4 and Tito notched a run off a fielder's choice against the Bengals.