Game 1 Box / Game 2 Box

TROY, N.Y. – Freshman Jen Bach (Lansdale, PA/Gwynedd Mercy Academy) had a pair of home runs, including her team-leading fifth of the season, to lead the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) softball team to a doubleheader sweep of Middlebury College. The Red Hawks took game one, 5-3, before capturing the nightcap, 3-1. RPI is now 15-3 overall while the Panthers drop to 7-7 on the season.

Bach, who played first base and right field, put the homestanding Red Hawks up in game one, sending a line-drive blast over the left field wall for a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning. Rensselaer led 5-0 through five innings before Middlebury got onto the scoreboard, scoring three runs in the top of the seventh inning, but it wasn’t enough.

Leading the Red Hawks was Bach, who finished 2 for 3 with two runs scored and four RBI. Junior centerfielder Sara Finkbeiner (Napanoch, NY/Ellenville) was 2 for 4 with a run scored while sophomore hurler Michelle Bianchetti (Highland Mills, NY/John S. Burke Catholic) improved to 5-1 in the circle. She allowed three runs on four hits with seven strikeouts and just two walks through 6.1 innings.

Middlebury saw senior pitcher Brittany Burke (Medfield, MA/Noble & Greenough) allow five runs on six hits with three strikeouts in 5.0 innings. She also went 2 for 3 at the plate with a run batted in.

Rensselaer junior Michelle Street (East Syracuse, NY/East Syracuse-Minoa) led the Red Hawks to victory in the second game. Allowing just one run on four hits, she struck out four batters in a complete game victory.

The Red Hawks scored a run in the bottom of the first two innings for the early lead, but Panthers’ sophomore Kristin Maletsky (Kinnelon, NJ/Pingry School) drove in a run to close the gap to 2-1 after three innings. RPI added a run in the bottom of the fourth inning and Street remained dominant through the final three frames for the victory.

Finkbeiner led the way offensively for the Red Hawks, going 2 for 4 with a run scored and an RBI. Senior leftfielder Courtney Sweeney (Ballston Spa, NY/Ballston Spa) went 1 for 1 with two runs scored.

Middlebury’s Ali McAnaney (Northbrook, IL/Glenbrook North) shouldered the loss. She allowed three runs on seven hits while striking out two in 6.0 innings pitched.

RPI returns to action on Thursday when it hosts Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in a doubleheader at Doris Robison Field (3pm). Middlebury hosts a twinbill against Castleton State on Wednesday (3pm).