NORTON, Mass. -- The Wheaton College (Mass.) softball team was defeated by visiting Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 6-4, in the second game of a New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference doubleheader to gain a split this afternoon at the Clark Softball Field on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.

The Lyons fall to 14-6 overall and 4-2 in league action, while the Engineers improve to 9-13 and 3-3.

Each team opened the game with a run in the first for a 1-1 count on the game two scoreboard. WPI kept its offensive momentum going with two more runs in the second, before Wheaton countered with a run in the bottom of the inning to cut the deficit to 3-2. The Engineers added two more runs in the fifth and another in the sixth with the Lyons answering with a single run in each inning, but were not able to pull even with their guests.

Junior catcher Jill Ceddia (Hopkinton, Mass.) fueled Wheaton, going 2-2 with two RBI, a pair of free passes and a run scored and sophomore right fielder Jillian Rohon (Southington, Conn.) contributed with a 2-3 showing in addition to drawing a walk and scoring a run. First year starting pitcher Amber Arcand (Millville, Mass.) suffered the loss to drop to 6-2 after allowing five runs (three earned) on nine hits and two walks in addition to striking out four batters in five innings.

Senior second base Alicia Salvalzo (Hudson, N.H.) led WPI in the second contest with a 2-2 effort, including a run batted in, a walk, a stolen base and a run scored. Junior center fielder Sydney Russell (Arlington, Va.), first year third base Destiny Lum (Kahalu'u, Hawaii) and first year left fielder Liz Jordan (Yardley, Pa.) each knocked in a run apiece. Junior catcher Jocelyn Diaz (Reedley, Calif.) and graduate student shortstop Lindsay Ambrosino (Chelmsford, Mass.) each collected a pair of hits, including a double for the Engineers. First year starting hurler Emma Nagy (Monroe, Wash.) picked up the win, allowing three runs on six walks and four hits to go with a strikeout in four and a third innings of work to improve to 4-5, while Togneri came in to shut the door with a scoreless seventh inning for her first save of the year.

Ambrosino cracked a one-out double to center field, before Lum singled to put her on third to set up a sacrifice fly off the bat of Salvalzo to bring home the first run of the game for WPI.

Junior second base Bryanna Agan (Averill Park, N.Y.) worked a walk for the Lyons, moved to second on a ground out and scored ahead of a two-out single from Ceddia to center to knot the contest at 1-1.

The Engineers scored twice in the second to take the lead for good at 3-1. First year Ava Laughlin (Chester Springs, Pa.) stroked a double over the Wheaton left fielder, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and scored when Jordan reached on an infield single. Jordan went to second on the throw that ended up in the WPI dugout to set up Russell for an RBI single to right field to give the Engineers a 3-1 margin.

Wheaton looked to break the game open in the bottom of the frame when it loaded the bases with just one out after Rohon and junior designated player Allison Weston (West Islip, N.Y.) reached on back-to-back singles and Arcand later drew a walk. Zito belted a sacrifice fly to right field to plate Rohon and cut the deficit to 3-2. Nagy was able to get another fly out to end the threat and preserve the edge or the visitors.

The Engineers promptly put two runners in scoring position to open the fifth when Salvalzo drew a walk and Diaz doubled to right center. The Lyons looked to manage the inning when Nagy grounded a ball to shortstop, but the ball went through the wickets and both runs scored to give WPI a 5-2 advantage.

The Lyons threatened another big inning in the bottom of the inning when they loaded the bases again, but again came away with just one run. Ceddia and sophomore center fielder Grace DiBacco (Selkirk, N.Y.) were each issued a base on balls and Rohon singled to center to fill the bases. Weston reached on a fielder's choice to plate Ceddia before junior third base Amanda Bogardus (Saco, Maine) re-loaded the bases with a two-out walk. WPI sophomore reliever Kelly Pritchard (Orange, Conn.) bared down and escaped with a harmless fly out to center field.

The Engineers manufactured their final run in the sixth when Russell walked, stole second, moved to third on a sacrifice and scored on a Lum ground out to increase their lead to 6-3.

Wheaton answered with a run of its own in the bottom of the inning to make it 6-4. Zito reached base on an error, stole second and later scored on a two-out infield single from Ceddia.

The Lyons return to action on Tuesday, April 11 when they host Johnson & Wales University for a 3:00 p.m twinbill at the Clark Softball Field, while WPI hosts NEWMAC foe Massachusetts Institute of Technology on April 14 at 3:30 p.m.