NORTON, Mass. -- Sophomore catcher Jill Ceddia (Hopkinton, Mass.) drove in three runs and first year center fielder Juliette Zito (Woodbridge, Conn.) tripled and knocked in a run to lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) softball team in a 10-1 rout over visiting Lesley College to earn a sweep in doubleheader action this evening at the Clark Softball Field on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass. The Lyons win their fifth straight contest and improve to 17-11, while the Lynx dip to 10-10.

Wheaton scored three times in the bottom of the first and broke the game open with six runs in the third, while finishing with 11 hits. The game was halted after five innings due to the eight-run mercy rule.

Ceddia was 1-3 with a double and a run scored for the Lyons, while Zito was 2-3 with a run scored. Sophomore Sofia Knopf (Norton, Mass.) smacked a triple, scored two runs and drove in a pair of runs, while first year second base Erica Piercey (North Branford, Conn.) also brought in two runs with a double. Senior starting pitcher Emma Candelaria (Hampton Bays, N.Y.) (9-3) earned the victory after allowing just a run on five hits and a pair of walks to go with three strikeouts in four innings of work.

Graduate student third base Jordan Day (Seminole, Fla.) led Lesley with a double and a home run in three at-bats to go with a run batted in and a run scored. 

The Lyons needed just two at-bats to get on the board first with Zito ripping a leadoff triple down the right field line and scoring on an infield single off the bat of sophomore Allison Weston (West Islip, N.Y.). Piercey later increased the home team's lead to 3-0 with a two-run double to left center field in the bottom of the first inning.

Wheaton enjoyed a six-run outburst in the third, which was ignited by four straight hits to begin the frame. Weston and senior shortstop Katelyn Barton (Andover, N.H.) each singled to open the inning, before sophomore third base Lindsey Oliveira (Westport, Mass.) singled home Weston with the Lyons' fourth run of the game. Knopf and Piercey each reached on an error to load the bases with a run scoring during that time. Ceddia came up and delivered a bases-clearing double to left field to bring home three runs and give Wheaton an 8-0 advantage. Zito later produced a two-out single up the middle to bring home Ceddia with the Lyons' ninth run. 

Day prevented the shutout for the Lynx, hitting a solo homer to lead off the inning and put the visitors on the board. Wheaton put a pair of extra-base hits together to match the Lesley run and give it a 10-1 lead. Oliveira doubled to left center, before Knopf tripled down the right field line to plate Oliveira with the final run of the day.

The Lyons return to action on Friday, April 22 when they host New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference rival Massachusetts Institute of Technology in doubleheader action at 3:00 p.m., while the Lynx travel to Quincy, Mass. on April 23 to take on Eastern Nazarene College at 1:00 p.m.