MIDDLEBURY, Vt. - Junior Melody Kappel took her 23rd and 24th walks of the season to set the Union College softball single-season walks record in game two of Union's doubleheader at Middlebury Wednesday as the Garnet Chargers fell, 4-2, after the Garnet Chargers succumbed to the Panthers in game one, 9-5.
 
Kappel's second-inning walk broke her tie with Tara Hartnett '23 to set her name alone at the top of the Union record book before drawing another base on balls two innings later to extend her record. Kappel's .419 on-base percentage leads the Garnet Chargers and is 17th in the Liberty League.
 
Game One: Middlebury 4, Union 2
 
Union put a pair of runners on base in the top of the first before Middlebury brought a run in the bottom of the inning to take an early 1-0 lead.
 
Union strung together three consecutive two-out singles in the top of the second to bring the game back even. First-Years Maddy Ewald and Sophia Gomes began the rally to put a runner in scoring position for Kappel, who shot a single of her own up the middle to score Ewald.
 
Middlebury got the run right back in the home half, as a groundout with a runner on third made it 2-1.
 
A two-out single in the third gave the Panthers some insurance for the first time. 
 
Junior Nahnny Sobetzko responded with an RBI double to score classmate Riley Callahan after her leadoff walk in the top of the fifth to bring Union back within one. 
 
Middlebury got it back, however, to push their lead back to two in the bottom of the fifth. Ewald singled in the top of the sixth, but that was the lone base runner Union got the rest of the way as Middlebury's de-facto closer Samantha Hausman got the final six outs without allowing anything further.
 
Game Two: Middlebury 9, Union 5
 
Both teams stranded the bases loaded in the first inning of game two before breaking through in the second.
 
After walks from Gomes and Kappel and a sacrifice bunt from Callahan put runners on second and third, first-year Sophia Burynski singled with two outs to score them both.
 
Middlebury also did their damage with two outs in their half, as a bases-clearing double put the hosts on top before they added two in the third to make it a 5-2 game.
 
Sobetzko brought Union back into the game in their next at-bats, singling down the right field line to score Kappel and bring the Garnet Chargers back within two.
 
Middlebury got runs right back, as a pair of Union errors and a wild pitch aided a Panthers hit in the bottom half to give the hosts two runs before a two-RBI double in the sixth pushed the lead to a half dozen.
 
Union kicked off their final rally strongly in the seventh. Sobetzko and junior Tatum Perkins led off with back-to-back doubles to bring Union back within five before sophomore Haley Gibbons followed with a run-scoring single to bring Union to make it 9-5. The Panthers then called on Hausman, who came on and retired the next three batters to shut the door.
 
Union (6-24) concludes the regular season on Saturday, when they travel to the University of Rochester in hopes of climbing back into the Liberty League Tournament as they sit one game out heading into the final day of the regular season. Doubleheader action from Southside Field is slated to begin at 1:00 p.m.