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CLERMONT, Fla. -- The University of Chicago softball team opened their Florida trip on Sunday with a win over Middlebury and a loss to Plymouth State on the opening day of the trip. The win over Middlebury on Sunday morning was the 500th official win for Head Coach Ruth Kmak. She becomes the first coach in University of Chicago history to win 500 games for the Maroons in any sport.

UChicago opened their trip early in the morning with a 9 AM ET first pitch against Middlebury. The Maroons opened the scoring in the second inning as Laila Sims ripped a double into center field, stole third base, and scored on a ground out by Kate Bannister. In the third inning, UChicago broke the game open with six runs as they continued to take advantage of miscues by the Panthers. Matilda Nelson, Audrey Hui, and Bannister all added RBIs in the inning for the Maroons as they stretched their lead to 7-0.

After Middlebury added a pair of runs in the fourth, UChicago bounced right back with two more of their own as Hui and Bannister each came across to score in the fifth for a 9-2 advantage. The Maroons would then hold on for a 9-3 victory. Paige Heffke earned the win on the mound with 5 innings pitched and just 2 hits allowed for her second win of the season. Nicole Wong also pitched two innings of one-run softball in relief. Sedona Ding reached base all three times for the Maroons with one hit and two walks, and Kate Bannister was the lone Maroon with multiple RBIs in the win.

In the second game of the day, the Panthers struck first in the top of the first inning with four runs on four hits, but the Maroons added one of their own in the bottom of the inning with a sacrifice fly by Madeline Murphy to score Sedona Ding. Then, in the third inning, UChicago cut the lead to 4-2 as Murphy brought home Ding again with an RBI double. After five more runs by Plymouth State, the Maroons were able to tack one in the sixth and one in the seventh with an RBI double by Paige Zvokel and a solo home run by Matilda Nelson, but they ultimately fell 11-4.

Sedona Ding was the lone UChicago player with multiple hits as she finished the game with two hits and two runs scored. Madeline Murphy also added two RBIs for the Maroons.

With the Sunday split, the Maroons move to 3-5 on the season overall. The team returns to action on Monday as they battle UW-La Crosse at 2 PM ET and Amherst at 4:30 PM ET. There will be no live stats available for either game on Monday.