MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – The Wesleyan softball team was swept by Middlebury in a Saturday doubleheader, taking a 9-1 defeat in six innings in game one and a 9-4 lose in game two. The Cardinals (18-17, 7-11 NESCAC) have clinched the #8 seed for the NESCAC Tournament and await news of their Quarterfinal opponent on Sunday night.
The Cardinal offense was held in-check all throughout game one by Middlebury starter McKenna Lont who held Wesleyan to just four hits and one run in six innings of work. The Cardinals took a 1-0 lead in the 1
st, but Lont did well to escape with just one run allowed as Wesleyan had the bases loaded with no one out in the frame.
Kelly Baker '26 drove in
Molly Lennon '26 on a sacrifice fly for the lone run.
Middlebury plated one run in the 2
nd but starting pitcher
Whitney Gigante '28 left the bases loaded on an inning-ending fielder's choice out. The Cardinals missed chances in both the 2
nd and 3
rd innings, leaving two runners on base to end each frame, and the Panthers capitalized with a four-run 3
rd with Olivia Scholes hitting a three-run home run out to left.
Lont allowed just one batter to reach base in a three-inning stretch from the 4
th through the 6
th innings and the Panthers plated two runs in the 4
th and one run in the 5
th before Kristyn Carroll finished the game with an RBI single to short.
Wesleyan again went up early in game two, taking advantage of a throwing error by starting pitcher Mia Gilham as one run came across on the error followed by an RBI groundout from
Cat Palmer '26. Middlebury answered with one run in the 1
st and then after leaving two Cardinals on-base in the 2
nd, the Panthers scored three runs to take a 4-2 lead in the bottom half.
Middlebury made it 6-2 with a two-run 4thinning before Palmer singled up the middle to score
Rebecca Cassel-Siskind '26 from second in the 5
th. Wesleyan still trailed by three to start the 6
th and had a chance to score after back-to-back walks from
Ella DeCrescenzo '27 and
Nicole Celi '27 but a lineout to second finished the frame.
The Panthers batted around in the 6
th, scoring three runs on three hits while taking advantage of two Wesleyan errors in the frame, to take a 9-3 lead. Wesleyan scored one run in the 7
th but the six-run lead was too much to overcome in the 9-4 defeat.
Lennon went 2-for-3 with one double in game one while Cassel-Siskind went 2-for-4 with two runs scored in game two.
Next up for Wesleyan is the NESCAC Tournament where the Cardinals finished last season as the runner-up.
