Baseball Takes Two of Three From Bantams
After a midweek victory over Thomas College, Colby set its sights on their opening NESCAC series hosting Trinity College. The Bantams already had a conference weekend under their belts, taking two of three against Bates last weekend.
With weather pushing the series from a Friday opener into the weekend, the visitors jumped on the Mules in Saturday's 9-inning contest. Behind four home runs, Trinity worked a 10-1 lead before Colby came storming back. With runs in the 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th, the Mules pulled to within two, but Trinity's relentless attack pushed the lead back to three for a final score of 14-11. Cole Palmeri hit his 24th career home run in the 8th inning and six Mules collected multi-hit games.
Back with a vengeance on Sunday for the double-header, Colby used momentum from another Palmeri home run to jump ahead late in the first game, taking the victory 6-4. The Mules never looked back as they collected 18 hits and 12 runs in the nightcap to turn away Trinity 12-2.
Aidan Aggarwal collected two wins this week on the mound, and has only given up one hit and no runs in four appearances on the season. Marcus Forrester and Patrick Shrake both had four multi-hit games on the week, pacing the team with nine hits apiece. Six of Forrester's hits were doubles.
The Mules are now 16-4 and will visit Tufts this weekend for their second conference series in the NESCAC East.
Softball Splits With Hamilton to Open NESCAC Play
In their longest road trip of the season, the Colby Softball team opened its NESCAC season with a visit to Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y.
After the hosts came from behind to take the first game 5-2, the Mules jumped out to a 8-0 lead en route to an 8-4 victory and a split in the standings.
Emma Burnham provided a spark in the first game with her first home run of the season in the top of the 4th inning, but the Continentals stormed back with runs in the next three innings to pull ahead and secure the win.
In the second game pitcher Ashley Correll's Mules spotted her an 8-run lead. The first-year went the distance in the circle for her second complete game of the season and improved her record to 3-0. Carissa Cassidy, Grace Gouin, Victoria Ramirez, and Juliana Kiley all recorded two hits in the game, and Ramirez and Kiley led the way with three RBI apiece.
The Mules will have a busy week with three double headers on tap. All six games will be on Mayflower Hill with Husson up first on Tuesday.
Men’s Lacrosse Plays Tight with MIT and #19 Middlebury
As the end of the regular season draws near, the Mules battled MIT before taking on #19 Middlebury as both games were decided by just two goals.
Tuesday night, the Engineers took a quick 4-0 lead after the first quarter but the Mules turned things around outscoring MIT 4-1 in both the second and third quarters. Heading into the final frame with an 8-6 Colby advantage, the Engineers tallied the first of the frame to narrow the gap to a single score but the Mules responded with three unanswered goals (two from Gavin Rothenberg to secure a hat-trick) in the final six minutes of play. MIT added two scores late but the Mules held on for a 11-9 final to go undefeated in non-conference games this season (4-0). Cormac O’Neil (three goals, two assists) and Doug McCarthy (a goal, four assists) both finished with five points in the contest as Will Heisler tallied 17 saves in net.
On Saturday against the #19 Middlebury, the two teams played the most defensive heavy game on the Mules schedule so far this season. With only two goals combined in the first half, both by Middlebury, the Mules knew they could battle alongside their opponent. Scoring opened up to begin the third quarter, and to begin the fourth the Mules started to make an offensive push. O’Neill got two past the Panthers goalkeeper, both assisted by Rothenberg who then scored a goal of his own at the four minute mark to pull Colby within two. Despite holding the Panthers scoreless in the final frame, the Mules could not complete the comeback for a 7-5 final. Heisler had yet another outstanding performance totaling 19 saves, the most of his career.
With four games remaining, all against NESCAC opponents, the 5-5 Mules will look to make a move in the conference standings. They travel to top-seeded Bowdoin Wednesday evening.
Women’s Lacrosse Dishes out a Controlling Win Over USM, Faces Top-Ranked Middlebury
Before falling to the Panthers (the 2022 & 2023 DIII Champs, currently undefeated in 2024) 17-6 Saturday, the Mules dominated the Huskies 19-3.
In the mid-week matchup in Gorham, Colby netted the first three goals in the first three minutes of play, but USM stayed close securing the next two. The Huskies would only net one more in the remaining 45 minutes as the Mules dominated the field of play scoring 16 unanswered goals. When the final whistle blew, the Mules had their 7th victory of the season 19-3.
Colby had 14 players with at least a point in the game including nine different goal scorers. Zoey Verbesey led the way with five goals followed by Julia Jardina with four and Cami McDonald with three. Emma Greene finished with three assists in the contest as the Mules played three different goalies in the game. Sarah Hearns, Abby Booth and Gigi Peloso combined for eight saves.
On Saturday against the Panthers, Colby held close after the first quarter down by two. Middlebury scored four in the second, three in the third, and five in the fourth to outpace the Mules. Ally Franz had two of Colby's six scores.
The ninth-ranked Women’s Lacrosse team, who are 3-3 in conference play, will look to improve on their record against Bowdoin at home on Wednesday. Colby currently sits in fourth place in the NESCAC standings.
Men’s Tennis Takes Care of Hamilton 8-1
In their first matches back on Mayflower Hill following spring break, the Mules hosted Amherst and Hamilton over the weekend.
Saturday against the Mammoths, Colby took two of the three doubles matches, but were able to secure only one singles match, falling 6-3. Sophomore Aidan Kwong grabbed the lone win in singles play. The doubles wins went to first years Sandeep Alapati and Paul Dandler in the two spot, and senior captain Joey Barrett paired up with Kwong in the three spot as both duos won 8-6.
The next day the Mules dominated the Continentals by a 8-1 scoreline. Colby took all three double wins and secured single victories (in position order) from Barrett, Sam Henry, Dandler, Alapati and Sriram Das.
Next up, the 5-5 Men’s Tennis team will head on a three match road trip with Tufts up first on April 13th.
Women’s Tennis Defeats Hamilton on the Road 7-2
Following their three games down South for spring break, the Mules stayed on the road this weekend to battle Amherst and Hamilton.
In Amherst, Mass. Colby lost to their 19th-ranked hosts 6-3 with a lone doubles victory coming from Ellie Gershaw and Amelie Gal in the three spot. First-years Jade Finestone, who remains undefeated this spring season, and Michaela Landry (headline photo) picked up the two singles wins.
On Sunday in Clinton, N.Y. the Mules topped the Continentals. 7-2. The duo of Gershaw and Gal won again as Isabella Suk and Landry notched their first victory together this season. Singles wins came (in position order) from Sam Riordan, Sydney Landau, Gershaw, Finestone and Landry.
Th Women’s Tennis team, who sits at 5-3 overall, will remain on the road for their seventh and eighth straight road matches going up against Tufts and Bates this weekend.
Crew Opens Northeast Competition in Worcester
The Mules traveled to WPI Saturday for their first competition of the season with the men competing for the Class of 2003 Cup and the women racing for the Jennifer McLaughlin Cup. The recent snowstorm in Maine posed an added challenge for the Mules and their ability to get training time on open water.
On a day filled with brisk wind and choppy waters, the men’s V8 boat finished 4th right behind Hamilton with a time of 6:09.50.
“The men’s V8 got off the starting line well and were in the fight with all the crews through the first half of the race. The water conditions in the second half of the course, combined with not having been in the boat all week, made for a tough challenge in the second thousand and we made some mistakes that cost us. Given the caliber of the opposition, the men showed that even on a day when they felt “off”, they were able to be competitive, and they’re looking forward to the coming races.” - Head Coach Stew Stokes
The men also had a 2nd V8 boat competing which finished third in their race out-pacing Hamilton.
On the women’s side of competition, the V8 boat finished fourth as well, securing a time of 7:42.50.
“The women’s team is young and looking to build experience this year, so this race was a challenge given the conditions and the caliber of our opponents. We learned a lot about how to handle the pressure of top-tier D3 racing and they are determined to build on what they learned for the upcoming races.” - Head Coach Stew Stokes
Colby Crew will be back in action this weekend racing at the US Coast Guard Academy on April 13th in Medford, Mass.
Special thank you to the photographers who helped make this production possible: Bonnie Baker Photography, Cole Burkhart '24, Steve Cheney P25, Stephen R. Clouthier, Ashley Conti, Jamie Fiedorek '25, Colin Flood '26, Steve Fuller @flyingpoint, Michael Garrett P23, Andrew Hearns P24, Peter Li '26, Michael Maher, Joshua McKee, Dustin Satloff '15, Ellie Sawyer P25, Bill Stevenson P24, Isadora Wells '26, Ansley White '26