NORTON, Mass. -- Junior starting pitcher Sofia Knopf (Norton, Mass. ) hurled a four-hit shutout and junior second base Bryanna Agan (Averill Park, N.Y.) was 4-4 with two runs batted in to lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) softball team to a 7-0 victory over visiting University of Massachusetts Dartmouth this afternoon in the first game of a doubleheader at the Clark Softball Field on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.

The Lyons improve to 8-3 on the season, while the Corsairs fall to 10-5.

Wheaton rapped out 11 hits in the opening contest and scored all of its runs in two innings with four in the fourth and three in the sixth.

Knopf improved to 4-1 in the circle for the Lyons and allowed just one free pass, while fanning four batters in seven complete innings. Agan registered her first career four-hit outing, while belting a pair of doubles, knocking in two runs and scoring a run to lead the Wheaton offense. Junior shortstop Lindsey Oliveira (Westport, Mass.) was 2-4 with a double, two RBI and a run scored and sophomore right fielder Jillian Rohon (Southington, Conn.) hit a home run for the home team. 

Graduate student starting pitcher Jill Richards (Kingston, Mass.) paced the UMass Dartmouth bats, going 2-3 with a double, while giving up four runs on six hits and two walks to go with five strikeouts in three and two-thirds innings to drop to 4-4 on the season. Sophomore Jill Walsh (Warwick, R.I.) and sophomore Ella Beaulieu (Tyngsborough, Mass.) each singled in their only respective plate appearances for the Corsairs.

Rohon crushed her second homer of the season over the left field fence for the first run of the game to give the Lyons a 1-0 edge with one out. Knopf and junior third base Amanda Bogardus (Saco, Maine) each drew walks, before sophomore left fielder Juliette Zito (Woodbridge, Conn.) singled up the middle with two outs to score Knopf. Agan followed with a two-run double up the middle to give Wheaton 4-0 lead. 

The Lyons added three more runs in the sixth for a 7-0 cushion. Bogardus drew a leadoff walk and Agan smacked a double to center field, before Oliveira traded places with Agan after ripping a double down the left field line to plate both runners and increase the Wheaton lead to 6-0. The Lyons tacked on one more run with the aid of a throwing error to score their seventh run.

UMass Dartmouth's best chance to score came in the sixth when it put runners on second and third with two outs, but Knopf was able to get an infield pop-up and a pair of strikeouts to end the threat for Wheaton.