The softball team had its most successful outing of the season thus far, heading to North Carolina to defeat the University of New Haven and North Dakota State University, but falling twice to Gardner-Webb University.
The Leopards (4-10 overall) kicked things off with a Friday afternoon matchup against New Haven (0-5 overall). Senior outfielder Olivia Catalina opened things up in the bottom of the third with a single, and sophomore infielder Caroline Hall followed suit with a home run to give the Maroon and White an early 2-0 lead.
The Chargers looked to mount a comeback, but Lafayette surrendered just six hits on the day, with sophomore Sophia Alvarez-Backus pitching all seven innings in the decisive 3-1 victory.
“It takes both sides of the ball for us to be successful,” junior catcher Regan Dillon said. “When our pitchers are having a great game, that gives us fuel for offense as well.”
Returning to the field later that night, the Leopards took on their first of two matchups against Gardner-Webb (16-7 overall). The Runnin’ Bulldogs lived up to their namesake, putting together a whopping eight runs in the third inning to take an 11-1 lead en route to the fifth-inning mercy rule victory.
“We just had kind of an uncharacteristic inning for us,” Hall said, noting that the Leopards looked to “reset” afterwards.
Saturday saw the Leopards take on North Dakota State (11-8) and rematch with Gardner-Webb. Against North Dakota, Hall and senior infielder Dani Rosner got on base in the second inning, and junior infielder Katie Harrington and senior infielder Kylie Sweet sent them home for a 2-0 lead.
The teams traded blows, but the Bison opened the floodgates in the fifth with a grand slam to take a 6-3 lead.
With two runners on base and two outs, an unlikely hero emerged as sophomore pitcher Jordan Goedel’s three-run homer walked off a 7-6 win for the Leopards, their second victory of the tournament.
“Even though we were down, there’s still time on the board, time left in the game to come back, and we knew we just had to chip away and we’d come out on top,” Dillon said.
Momentum faltered for the Maroon and White, as Saturday night saw the Leopards surrender another mercy rule defeat in an 11-3 loss to Gardner-Webb, outhit by the Runnin’ Bulldogs 26-7 across the two matchups.
In a Sunday morning game, the Leopards capped off the road series with another contest against North Dakota State. Hall tallied a homer on the opening at-bat, kickstarting a 3-0 opening inning.
“That just really set the tone for our offense and also our defense,” Hall said. “We could go out there and play loose.”
While the Bison responded with a four-run second inning, the Leopards answered with a four-run inning of their own, taking an 8-4 lead after three innings.
“We saw multiple different pitchers in that game, and I think that we did a really good job of adjusting to whatever they were throwing,” Hall said.
The Maroon and White completed the sweep over North Dakota with an 8-6 victory, clinching the third win of the weekend.
Staying on the road, the Leopards head to Virginia to take on Longwood University (8-12 overall) and Le Moyne College (1-11 overall).
Dan Sullivan ‘27 contributed reporting.