NORTON, Mass. – Sophomore starting pitcher Peyton Blankenheim-Brown (Rio Linda, Calif.) hurled a six-hit shutout and drove in a run to lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) softball team over visiting Emmanuel College, 3-0, in the first game of a doubleheader at Clark Softball Field on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.
The Lyons improve to 15-11 on the season, while the Saints drop to 11-12.
There were just nine hits in the game by both teams, including three for Wheaton.
The Lyons made the most of their chances, scoring twice in the bottom of the first and added an insurance run in the fifth.
Blankenheim-Brown struck out a career-high seven batters and issued just one walk in seven complete innings to improve to 3-2 for Wheaton. She was 2-3 at the plate. Junior right fielder Jillian Rohon (Southington, Conn.) was 1-2 with a triple and a run scored.
Senior shortstop Olivia Conti (Cranston, R.I.) paced Emmanuel at the plate with a 1-3 effort that included a double, junior second base Amanda Penney (Warwick, R.I.) reached base with a walk and a single. Junior starting pitcher Madison Marks (Edgewater Park, N.J.) dropped to 5-7 after giving up three runs (two earned) on three hits and three walks to go with a strikeout in six complete innings.
The Lyons put two runs on the board with just one hit in the opening frame. Junior left fielder Juliette Zito (Woodbridge, Conn.) and first year second base Ella Molinari (Grafton, Mass.) book-ended an out with walks to put runners on first and second to open the frame. The pair moved into scoring position when Zito made the move to third when the catcher couldn't squeeze a pitch into her glove. Senior third base Bryanna Agan (Averill Park, N.Y.) followed with a sacrifice fly to right field to plate the first run of the day. Blankenheim-Brown helped her own cause with an RBI single to left to give the home team a 2-0 margin.
Wheaton tacked on a run in the fifth to take a 3-0 lead. Rohon broke up a string of nine straight batters retired by Marks when she smacked a one-out triple to right field. Zito followed with a sacrifice fly to left field to bring home Rohon with the final run of the contest.
The Saints' best chance to score in the game came in the top of the fourth when Conti whacked a one-out double to left field and advanced to third on a ground out, but was stranded there when Blankenheim-Brown fanned the next batter to end the threat.
Emmanuel put two runners on base in the seventh after singles from first year right fielder Alexis Martineau (Merrimack, N.H.) and first year third base Mia Fernandes (Taunton, Mass.), but again Blankenheim-Brown escaped without any damage after a game-ending strikeout.
