NORTON, MA- The Wheaton College softball team fell twice on
Thursday to Rhode Island College, which has qualified for the past
four NCAA Tournaments, dropping a close 6-4 affair in the nightcap
after suffering an 8-0, six-inning loss in the opener at Clark
Field. The Lyons slipped to 13-7, while the Anchorwomen improved to
11-3 this spring.
In game one, sophomore Lesley Warn (Portland,
ME/Deering) took the loss for Wheaton, allowing only three
earned runs, and none until the sixth inning, while striking out
four but walking five. Freshman Megan Roy (North Dighton,
MA/Dighton-Rehoboth Regional) had the hosts' lone hit, a
line-drive single back through the box while glancing the pitcher's
glove leading off the fifth inning.
Junior Donielle Mattoon (Coventry, RI/Coventry)
went 2-for-3 with two runs, four RBI and a home run for Rhode
Island College, while classmate Amanda Berard (Swansea,
MA/Joseph Case) tossed the one-hit shutout, striking out
three while walking one in six innings.
After the visitors put two on with none out in the third, Warn
induced a fly ball and a groundout to the circle before fanning the
final Anchorwoman to escape the inning unscathed. However, three
Wheaton errors and three RIC hits led to five runs coming around in
the next frame, with each unearned. Two came home on an infield
miscue before Mattoon hit a three-run homer with two down.
The visitors iced the game with three two-out runs in sixth
inning, with Mattoon's RBI single making it 6-0 before freshman
Marisa Jandreau (Plainville, CT/Plainville) hit a
two-run triple.
Roy drove in three runs during the second game, while freshman
Amanda Drury (Tolland, CT/Tolland) went 2-for-2.
Junior Rachel Merrick (Methuen, MA/Central
Catholic) took the loss.
Junior Amanda Perry (New Bedford, MA/New
Bedford) went 2-for-3 with three runs for RIC, Marisa
Jandreau was 3-for-4, and junior Kayla Jandreau
(Plainville, CT/Plainville) was 2-for-3. Sophomore
Kyla Puccini (North Dighton, MA/Dighton-Rehoboth
Regional) picked up the win in relief, allowing one run in
three innings, before Berard pitched a perfect seventh for the
save.
After the visitors took a 2-0 lead thanks to a pair of two-out
RBI singles in the first, Wheaton countered with three runs in the
home half, all being plated on a Roy triple to center. However, the
Anchorwomen, who went 9-for-15 with two outs during the game while
bringing home all six runs with two down, knotted the game in the
second on Marisa Jandreau's RBI single.
RIC took the lead for good thanks to Kayla Jandreau's RBI double
in the fourth before Perry's two-bagger with the bases loaded and
two down the following inning made it 5-3, but left fielder Drury's
throw nailed a runner trying to take third before a second run
could score on the hit.
Wheaton put the leadoff hitter aboard in each the third and
fourth before coming up empty but rallied in the sixth, as a run
scored on a fielder's choice with one out made it 6-4. However,
with runners at second and third, a Lyon line drive was caught in
center field by senior Jackie Dube (Barrington,
NH/Dover), who cut down a runner trying to score to end
the threat.
The Lyons return to action tomorrow by taking on New England
Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) counterpart Babson
College for a doubleheader that starts at 3:00 p.m.
