The Cardinal softball team posted a pair of come-from behind wins in its northern opener on Sunday, defeating Bates by scores of 13-12 and 16-15 to snap a six-game losing streak. Wesleyan has now won 10 of its last 11 games against the Bobcats and stands 10-6 on the year entering this weekend’s NESCAC West-opening series against Hamilton.

Down 4-0 before they came to bat in the first, the Cardinals scored twice in the first and twice in the second for a 4-4 tie. Bates made it 5-4 in the top of the fourth, but Wesleyan moved ahead 7-5 in the bottom of the inning and made it 8-5 in the fifth. Bates continued to battle, however, and rallied for three runs in the top of the sixth for an 8-8 tie as the game went to extra innings.

The international tiebreaker was used in the extra frames, meaning each team began its half of the inning with a runner on second. Bates scored twice in the top of the eighth for a 10-8 lead, but Wesleyan would not be denied. Meaghan Dendy ’10 started the inning on second and advanced to third on a wild pitch; following a walk by Talia Bernstein ’11, a single to left-center by Chrissy Bello ’12 scored Dendy and halved Wesleyan’s deficit. Bernstein advanced to third on a fielder’s choice to second by Alexis Kral ’12 and scored on a one-out single by Sam Epstein ’12 to tie the game at 10-10. This gave the Cards runners on first and second, but a double play sent the game into a ninth inning.

Bates again scored twice in its half of the inning, taking a 12-10 lead into the bottom of the ninth and setting the stage for Wesleyan’s heroics. A leadoff double to left by Dana Levy ’12 scored Taylor Zavadsky ’10, who had been placed on second. Allee Beatty ’13 then laid down a bunt that was fielded by the catcher but dropped by the second baseman, who was covering first on the play, allowing Beatty to scamper to second; Levy was thrown out trying to score on the play. Tori Redding ’13 then grounded to short, placing Bates one out away from a hard-fought win. Up stepped Dendy, who singled through the left side to score Beatty with the tying run. Dendy advanced to second on a single by Bernstein and advanced to third on a wild pitch before Bello walked to load the bases. Another wild pitch brought home Dendy with the winning run as the Cardinals took a thrilling 13-12 victory.

Bates appeared well on its way to a victory in the nightcap, as the Bobcats scored 12 runs—all unearned—in a first inning that saw Wesleyan use all three of its pitchers. Bates carried its 12-run lead into the third, when the Cardinals scored four times to cut it to 12-4. Wesleyan added three in the fourth and two in the fifth to cut its deficit to 12-9, but Bates made it 15-9 in the top of the sixth. Wesleyan scored five times in the bottom of the inning, however, and held Bates scoreless in the top of the seventh for a 15-14 deficit with three outs remaining.

Bernstein led off the inning with a walk and advanced to second on a single by Bello. Following a fly to center by Epstein, a walk by Kral loaded the bases for Zavadsky, who worked a bases-loaded walk to tie the game. Next up was Levy, who laced a walk-off single to left that brought home pinch-runner Ashley McLaren ’13 with the winning run.

Wesleyan batted .493 (36-for-73) as a team in the twinbill, led by the combined efforts of Beatty and Redding, who hit a combined .700 (14-for-20) from the top two spots in the lineup while combining to score 10 runs and drive home five more. Dendy went 5-for-10 with five runs and seven RBI, and Levy added three runs and three RBI in a 4-for-8 performance.

The Cardinals inaugurate the NESCAC West schedule with a three-game home series against Hamilton, with a single game Friday at 4:30 p.m. and a doubleheader beginning Saturday at 12 p.m. A three-game sweep would extend Wesleyan’s winning streak over the Continentals to 13 games and give the Cardinals a leg up in their quest for a third straight division title.