NORTON, MA- Senior Andrea Bagley
(Foxboro, MA/Foxboro) yielded one run over 10 innings
while picking up both of the Wheaton College softball team's
victories against Smith College on Saturday, as the Lyons notched
7-0 and 10-1 wins at Clark Field, with the second contest decided
in five frames. The Blue and White snapped a nine-game losing
streak in improving to 15-13 overall and 3-7 in the New England
Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC), while the Pioneers
are now 2-19 and 0-12.
During the opener, Bagley carried a no-hitter into the fourth
inning, and the Lyons led 5-0 by the second. Bagley finished with a
complete-game four-hitter, striking out eight while earning her
first win of the spring. Sophomore Amanda Poplaski
(North Reading, MA/North Reading) went 3-for-4 with two
runs, while six teammates added one hit apiece, including junior
Katy
Salka (Ayer, MA/Ayer), who had two RBI.
Freshman Tessa Clark (Calais, ME/Calais) took
the loss for Smith, allowing four earned runs in six innings on
nine hits, walking three without fanning a batter.
Poplaski led off the game with a triple before scoring on junior
Kristen
Hunt's (Milford, CT/Jonathan Law) bunt single, and the
Lyons added four runs in the second. Salka's two-out, two-run
single was the big blow, Poplaski added a run-scoring base hit, and
junior Marissa Hobocan
(Shelton, CT/Saint Joseph) had a sacrifice fly.
Meanwhile, Bagley didn't allow a hit until sophomore
Sarah Goodman's (Pittsford, NY/Pittsford Mendon)
clean knock to right center on a 3-2 pitch leading off the fourth.
Wheaton's offense extended the lead to seven with a pair of runs in
the bottom of the fifth, as freshman Alanna Monahan's
(Dorchester, MA/Southfield School) plated the first Lyon
before another came around on an error during the play.
In game two, junior Nicole DeRosa
(Greenwich, CT/Greenwich Academy) went 3-for-3 with five
RBI, two runs and a pair of doubles, while Salka was 2-for-3 with
two runs and a pair of RBI. Poplaski scored twice and swiped two
bases, and freshman Amanda Drury
(Tolland, CT/Tolland) scored two runs. Bagley yielded one
run on three hits with two strikeouts in three frames before junior
Rachel Merrick
(Methuen, MA/Central Catholic) tossed shutout fourth and
fifth innings.
For Smith, senior Megan Kiefer (Oak Park, IL/Oak Park
and River Forest) went 2-for-2, while classmate
Laura Robitzek (Auburn, ME/Saint Dominic Regional)
was 2-for-3, as they combined to account for all of the Pioneers'
hits. Freshman Abagael Schrader (Tiffin, IA/Clear Creek
Amana) suffered the setback, allowing nine earned runs on
11 hits in four innings.
Junior Salma Mehter's (Seattle, WA/Roosevelt)
infield single plated Kiefer in the first to give Smith a
short-lived lead, as DeRosa drilled a two-run double in the home
half that narrowly missed leaving the park, and freshman Megan Roy (North
Dighton, MA/Dighton-Rehoboth Regional) added a two-out RBI
single.
Three more Lyons scored in the second, all with two down, as
Salka struck a two-run double before DeRosa hit a run-scoring
single. Wheaton pulled away with a four-run fourth inning, with
DeRosa contributing a two-out, two-run double that again just
missed clearing the fence. Merrick followed with an RBI double, and
the 10th run scored on a Pioneer miscue.
Wheaton turns around and heads to Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT) tomorrow for a NEWMAC doubleheader that begins at
12:00 p.m. The contests were originally scheduled for Friday but
postponed due to inclement weather.
