CLERMONT, Fla. - For the third time in the last four days, Ripon's softball team split a pair of games on their Spring Trip. The Red Hawks defeated Franklin & Marshall 3-1 to begin the day, before dropping the nightcap 9-4 to North Park University.

Ripon (5-9) wasted no time in the first game, which saw the first two Red Hawk batters reach base. Micaela Encarnacion, who led the bottom of the first off with a double, scored the game's first run on a sac fly off the bat of Isabella Osborn. The Red Hawks added another run in the second, which was led off by a double by Teara Morgenroth, who would come around to score on a single by Molly Potter.

Franklin & Marshall (2-5) cut the lead in half in the third when they scored on a single through the right side of the infield. Ripon got that run back in the bottom of the fifth as Encarnacion again led the inning off with a double and would later score on a fielder's choice. From there, Lexi Reetz and the Ripon defense would take over, as Franklin & Marshall failed to record a hit during the final two innings.

Encarnacion, who is now batting a team-best .458 out of the leadoff spot, finished the game 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles. Morgenroth and Tene Robinson each finished with two hits for Ripon, which tallied nine hits in the contest. Reetz (4-3) earned the win, allowing one run on five hits and striking out five, while pitching all seven innings.

In the day's second game, Ripon again struck first, scoring in the top of the first on a single by Addison Lindsey, which allowed Robinson to score from second base. That lead would last until the bottom of that inning when North Park (2-6) scored four runs on four hits and two Ripon errors. The Vikings added another run on an RBI single in the second, before scoring twice more in the fourth on a home run to straightaway center field.

Ripon made a game of it with three runs on four hits in the fifth, scoring twice on a double by Julia Sanchez, and once more on a sac fly from Cortney Bols. North Park put a stop to that comeback bid with two runs in the bottom of the fifth to cap the scoring.

The Red Hawks finished with seven hits, with two apiece coming from Encarnacion and Lindsey. Jessica Kobelt again looked sharp in relief, pitching two hitless innings and striking out one. She has now allowed just two earned runs in her last 12.1 innings of work.

Ripon will conclude its Spring Trip Friday against SUNY-Geneseo and Fairleigh Dickinson-Florham at 8 and 10:30 a.m. Central Time, respectively. Both games will be played at Hancock Field in Clermont, Fla. LiveStats will be available for the Geneseo game at http://geneseoknights.com/sports/sball/2017-18/boxscores/20180316_9y6o.xml, and for the Fairleigh Dickinson game at https://www.fdudevils.com/404-1.aspx?url=404;https://www.fdudevils.com:443/www.sidearmstats.com/fduf/softball/.