WALTHAM, MA- The Wheaton College softball team trailed
20th-ranked Brandeis University just 5-4 in the fifth inning of the
second game of a doubleheader on Wednesday at Marcus Field before
falling 11-4 after suffering a 9-1, six-inning setback in the
opener. The Lyons slipped to 17-15, while the Judges, who are
ranked by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA), are
20-5-1.
In game one, freshman Megan Roy (North Dighton,
MA/Dighton-Rehoboth Regional) walked three times for
Wheaton, while junior Nicole DeRosa's (Greenwich,
CT/Greenwich Academy) two-out double in the first inning
plated sophomore Amanda Poplaski (North Reading, MA/North
Reading) to give the Lyons a 1-0 edge. Sophomore
Lesley Warn (Portland, ME/Deering) allowed four
earned runs during four innings while striking out four.
Senior Emily Vaillette (Milford, NH/Milford)
went all six innings for Brandeis without allowing an earned run,
walking five and fanning three.
Warn worked out of a two-on, two-out jam unscathed in the first
before Brandeis plated seven runs in the second inning on six hits
and three Lyon miscues. The outburst proved to be the Judges' only
runs during the first five frames before senior Erin Ross
(Manalapan, NJ/Manalapan) provided a two-run double in the
sixth.
Juniors Marissa Hobocan (Shelton, CT/Saint
Joseph) and Kristen Hunt (Milford, CT/Jonathan
Law) provided two RBI apiece in the second contest, with
Hunt drilling her third home run of the year. Junior Rachel Merrick (Methuen, MA/Central Catholic) scored twice, while
senior Andrea Bagley (Foxboro, MA/Foxboro) allowed
seven earned runs in five innings while striking out four.
Freshman Stacy Berg (Owings Mills,
MD/McDonough) hit a pair of home runs for the Judges,
driving in five and scoring three runs. Sophomore Caroline
Miller (Bala Cynwyd, PA/Harriton) allowed two earned runs
in four innings while notching the win, and senior Allie
Mussen (Franklin Square, NY/Carey) went three frames for
the save.
After a Berg three-run homer in the opening inning produced the
first runs of the game, Hunt swatted a two-run shot with two down
in the second. Berg brought two more home on her third-inning home
run, but Hobocan countered with a two-out, two-run single in the
fourth to make it 5-4. However, Brandeis pulled away with four runs
in the fifth and two more in the sixth.
The Lyons complete the home portion of their slate on Friday
when they host Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in a critical
New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC)
doubleheader that begins at 3:00 p.m. With four games remaining,
Wheaton is holding down the sixth and final playoff spot, while the
Engineers are one game behind the Lyons in seventh. A sweep assures
Wheaton of a postseason berth.
