MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – Coming in having lost four straight, the Wesleyan softball team banded together for a massive NESCAC sweep of No. 15 ranked Colby, taking both ends of a Saturday doubleheader 6-4 and 5-1. Wesleyan (16-13, 6-8 NESCAC) vaults two games ahead of Amherst and Bates in the league standings while the Mules (22-7, 8-4 NESCAC) are swept for the first time this season.
 
Game one saw Wesleyan jump out to a 6-0 lead with all six runs coming in a span of three innings. The Cardinals opened the scoring with a three-run 3^rd inning, as the first three batters of the inning all reached base, the third of which being Molly Lennon '26 who drove home Nicole Celi '27 on a single to center. Rebecca Cassel-Siskind '26 scored another on an RBI groundout then Jordynn Killion '27 came up big with a two-out, RBI double to center to make it 3-0 Wesleyan.
 
Celi knocked in a run in the 4^th as she laced an RBI double to left field that scored Waverly Smart '27 all the way from first. Wesleyan tacked on two runs on four hits in the 5^th inning, with Whitney Gigante '28 helping her own cause with a two-out run-scoring single through the left side of the infield. Smart then came through with another two-out hit, singling to center with a fielding error on the play that allowed Kelly Baker '26 to score from second.
 
While the Cardinals built the six-run lead, Gigante was mowing through the Colby lineup, allowing just one baserunner to reach scoring position in five of the first six innings. Gigante did well in the 2^nd inning to keep the game scoreless, as she induced back-to-back fielder's choice outs after allowing the first two batters of the frame to reach base. She then got Kelsey Sullivan to line out to center to end the inning with no Colby runs allowed.
 
Armed with the 6-0 lead entering Colby's last at-bats in the 7^th, the Mules' bats started to come alive as three of the first four batters of the inning singled, setting up Carissa Cassidy who hit a bases clearing double out to center. Emma Burnham then popped up to Alexis Amante '26 for the second out of the inning but an error followed by a single put the tying run on first base. Kelly Baker '26 came on to pitch for Gigante and she needed just three pitches to get Caroline DeSimone to ground into a game-ending fielder's choice out to third to finish off the 6-4 game one win.
 
Wesleyan totaled 10 hits in game one with Gigante and Celi both going 2-for-3 with one RBI while Lennon went 2-for-4 with one RBI. Gigante earned the win, going 6.2 innings with five strikeouts and no walks while Baker came on and earned a save.
 
Game two saw the Mules jump out to a 1-0 lead, scoring one run on an error in the opening half inning. The Cardinals answered right back with a run of their own in the bottom half of the 1^st, with Cat Palmer '26 sending an RBI single through the left side to score Cassel-Siskind from second.
 
Colby threatened for more in the 2^nd, with the first two batters reaching on singles, but Alexis Amante '26 gunned down Victoria Ramirez trying to steal third then Ella DeCrescenzo '27 got a line out to short and groundout to second to end the inning. DeCrescenzo came through again in the 3^rd, with Cassidy reaching third base with one out, only for the Mules to fly out to center and line out to right to leave her stranded on third.
 
Lennon led off the bottom of the 3^rd with a deep solo shot out to left center then with two outs, Baker crushed a double to left center that went all the way to the wall, allowing Palmer to score from first to give Wesleyan a 3-1 lead.
 
DeCrescenzo kept it up in the 4^th, as Colby loaded the bases with one out, only to not plate any runs once again as Julia Berry grounded into a fielder's choice to third before Cassidy struck out swinging.
 
The Cardinals plated two insurance runs in the bottom of the 4^th with pinch runner Lucia Zaremba '29 stealing third then scoring on a wild pitch. Then with two outs, Lennon drew a walk with no one on and Cassel-Siskind came up with a big RBI triple to left center that made it 5-1 Wesleyan.
 
Armed with a four-run lead, DeCrescenzo had more than enough support as she again left two Colby runners on-base in the 5^th before retiring the side in the 6^th and allowing just one baserunner in a scoreless 7^th to finish off the doubleheader sweep in a 5-1 game two win.
 
DeCrescenzo earned the win with a complete game, allowing nine hits with one unearned run allowed, no walks, and three strikeouts. She stranded nine of 10 baserunners in a sensational outing for her fifth win of the year.
 
Lennon's home run is her seventh of the year, tying the team's single-season record set by Jill Gately '15 in 2013 and Abby Rutt '17 in 2014. Lennon also walked and scored two runs in game two. Cassel-Siskind walked twice, tripled, and scored a run. Palmer went 2-for-4 with one RBI and one run.
 
Wesleyan is back in action on Sunday with a trip to Williamstown for a doubleheader with Williams starting at 1 PM.