Lyons take game two by a 9-0 score (five innings)

BOSTON, Mass. – The Wheaton College softball team, ranked No. 25 in the latest National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Top 25 poll, split a pair of non-conference games with UMass Boston on Tuesday afternoon. The Beacons took game one 7-5, while the Lyons bounced back in game two with a 9-0 decision in five innings.

UMASS BOSTON 7, WHEATON 5

Beacons' starter Emily Gray (New Bedford, Mass./New Bedford) picked up her second win of the season on seven innings, 11 hits, five runs (four earned), two walks and a pair of strikeouts.

Wheaton senior Allison Baker (Orange, Conn./Amity Regional) shouldered the loss for just the second time this spring going six innings, yielding nine hits and seven runs (four earned).

Trailing 1-0 after the top of the first, UMass Boston responded with four runs on five hits in the bottom half of the frame highlighted by a two-run double to center by freshman Gia Raczkowski (Stoneham, Mass./Stoneham). Senior Toni Scola (Worcester, Mass./Saint Peter-Marian) capped the scoring with an RBI single through the left side after the Beacons also pushed across a run earlier in the inning on a throwing error.

Wheaton answered with a pair of runs in the third as senior Jenna Rocha (Rehoboth, Mass./Dighton-Rehoboth) roped a run-producing double to center and freshman Caroline Fairbanks (Milford, Mass./Milford) notched an RBI base hit down the right field line to make it a 4-3 deficit.

The Lyons took a 5-4 lead in the top of the fourth on a pair of RBI singles by sophomore Emma Hart (Lincoln, R.I./Lincoln) and Rocha. Wheaton's lead was short-lived, however, as UMass Boston produced two runs in the bottom half to reclaim a 6-5 advantage. The Beacons also added an insurance run in the sixth as freshman Kaitlyn Morse (Arlington, Mass./Arlington) collected her second RBI of the contest with a double to left-center field.

Gray allowed the game-tying run to reach base on a walk with one out, but kept Wheaton's comeback bid at bay with deep foul out down the left field line and a strikeout swinging to secure the win in game one for the hosts.

WHEATON 9, UMASS BOSTON 0 (five innings)

Junior Emily Berardi (Boston, Mass./Boston Latin) improved to 4-1 on the season over four innings, three hits and four strikeouts. Freshman Danielle Cimino (Cumberland, Maine/Greely) finished the fifth with two a pair of strikeouts in a 1-2-3 frame.

UMass Boston junior Michelle Zullo (Everett, Mass./Everett) dropped to 2-4 on three innings, eight hits, nine runs (four earned) and five walks.

Wheaton wasted little time bouncing back in game two as the Lyons scored five runs in the first inning. Sophomores Erin Deneen (Framingham, Mass./Lincoln-Sudbury) and Marissa Timoteo (Jupiter, Fla./Jupiter) plated a pair of runs with singles to right, while Fairbanks drew a bases loaded walk.

After senior Ashley Brillon (Attleboro, Mass./Bishop Feehan) worked a bases loaded walk in the third to make it 6-0, Fairbanks and Berardi launched back-to-back homers in the fourth to force the eventual mercy rule. Fairbanks crushed a two-run shot to left field for her conference leading fifth round-tripper of the season, while Berardi's solo homer was her first of the season and third in her career.

Brillon finished the contest going 4-for-6 at the plate with three runs scored, a double and one RBI, while Rocha was 3-for-5 with two runs, a double and two RBI. Berardi collected three hits in game two and Fairbanks registered five RBI between both contests.

Wheaton (21-3, 5-1 NEWMAC) hosts Coast Guard Academy on Friday, April 4 at 3 p.m. UMass Boston (4-9) welcomes Suffolk University to its campus tomorrow at 3 p.m.

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