NORTON, MA- The Wheaton College softball team dropped a pair of
one-run decisions to New England Women's and Men's Athletic
Conference (NEWMAC) foe Babson College, 2-1 and 4-3 on Friday at
Clark Field. The Lyons are now 13-9 overall and 1-5 in the league,
while the Beavers improved to 10-8 overall while opening their
conference slate with the twinbill.
Four different Wheaton players had hits in the opener, while
sophomore Lesley Warn (Portland, ME/Deering) took
the loss after allowing two runs on seven hits during a
complete-game effort. She struck out one while walking three Babson
hitters.
Freshman Catie Funk (Scarborough,
ME/Scarborough) provided all of the offense for the
visitors, a two-run homer with two down in the fifth, while
sophomores Kayla Davis (Gardner, MA/Gardner) and
Annie Dursema (Yarmouth, ME/Yarmouth) each added a
pair of knocks. Senior Danielle Liska (Seymour,
CT/Seymour) allowed four hits, striking out nine and
walking two during seven innings.
Wheaton took the lead in the third, as freshman Amanda Drury (Tolland, CT/Tolland) singled with one down, moved
to third on sophomore Amanda Poplaski's (North Reading,
MA/North Reading) knock through the right side and came
home thanks to junior Kristen Hunt's (Milford, CT/Jonathan
Law) sacrifice.
Babson put two on with none out in the fourth but came away
empty before breaking on the board in the fifth. Dursema singled
with one down and, following a strikeout, Funk slugged with a
two-run shot to straightaway center field. Liska set down 14 of the
final 16 Lyon hitters.
Freshman Megan Roy (North Dighton, MA/Dighton-Rehoboth
Regional) swatted an RBI double in the nightcap for
Wheaton, while Warn was again saddled with the loss. Senior
Andrea Bagley (Foxboro, MA/Foxboro) allowed one
unearned run on one hit in 2.1 innings of relief.
Dursema was 2-for-4 with two RBI, and sophomore Nicole
Latini (East Bridgewater, MA/Cardinal Spellman) went
2-for-4 with two runs. Freshman Megan Brain (Pompton
Plains, NJ/Pequannock Township) earned the victory,
yielding six hits in six innings. Liska came on for the save in the
seventh inning, allowing an unearned run and no hits.
Junior Katy Salka's (Ayer, MA/Ayer) fielder's
choice grounder plated Poplaski in the first inning to give Wheaton
an early lead before Babson freshman Jaclyn Enos (Taunton,
MA/Coyle & Cassidy) countered with a two-out RBI
single in the second, but Roy's double into the right field corner
made it 2-1 in the home half.
Like the opener, Babson plated two runs in the fifth, with
Dursema's single off of Warn and into center field bringing home
two. The visitors added an unearned run in the seventh before
giving the Lyons their third run on a two-out miscue, but Wheaton
stranded Poplaski at first base.
Wheaton heads to the road for its next three doubleheaders,
beginning on Tuesday at Wellesley College. First pitch of the
NEWMAC twinbill is set for 3:00 p.m.
