Ephs Throw Goose Eggs at Panthers in Sweep of Doubleheader

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. — Williams College senior Kirstin Mapes and junior Maya Hartman threw complete-game shutouts Saturday as the Williams College softball team swept a doubleheader from NESCAC West rival Middlebury by 3-0 and 4-0 scores to improve to 5-0 on the young season. 
The two teams wil close out their three-games series Sunday with a 1 p.m. contest in Williamstown. 
In the first game of the day, Middlebury's Jewel Ashbrook and Williams's Kirstin Mapes were in control from the circle through five innings, keeping the game scoreless. Both pitchers worked their way out of a bases-load jams in the early stages.
The Ephs broke through for a pair of runs in the top of the sixth, as Azaria Vargas raced home on a wild pitch and Jenny Hickey drove in Rachel Neugart with a ground out.
Williams added an insurance run in the seventh when Mara Kipnis lofted a RBI triple to right field, driving in Aly Granados to close out the scoring. Six different Ephs finished with one hit. 
Mapes (4-0) scattered three hits for her first shutout of the season with five strikeouts. Kipnis had the lone extra-base hit of the game with her triple and drove in a run.
In the nightcap, Hartman made her first collegiate start and first appearance in 25 months. She scattered five hits over seven frames in the complete-game effort, did not walk a batter and fanned two to record her first crarrer win and shutout. 
Williams grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth inning on bunt single by Neugart. The Ephs doubled the advantage two batters later on a single to center by Vargas, bringing in Mapes from second for a 2-0 edge.
Middlebury made a push in the home half of the inning, putting runners on the corners via singles by Sophia Marlino and Sophie Bolinger, but Williams's Hartman muted the threat with a ground out to end the frame. Hartman ended the game retiring the final seven batters she faced for the win.
The visitors added two more runs in the fifth with Kipnis factoring in on both scores. She first hit a triple into the gap in right field to plate Taylor Wise, who walked, before scoring on a wild pitch.
The Ephs finished with eight hits. Vargas and Mapes each went 2 for 3 in the contest, while Kipnis finished 2 for 4.