NORTON, Mass. – First year first base Peyton Blankenheim-Brown (Rio Linda, Calif.) belted an RBI double in the bottom of the eighth to give the Wheaton College (Mass.) softball team a 5-4 walk-off victory over visiting Springfield College in the first game of a New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference doubleheader this afternoon at Clark Softball Field on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.
The Lyons improve to 17-13 overall and 10-3 in league play, while the Pride fall to 22-7-1 and 10-3.
The teams combined for 22 hits, including 12 for the visitors and just two strikeouts with one apiece.
Wheaton scored three runs in the bottom of the second to take a 3-0 lead, before Springfield cut the deficit to 3-1 with a run in the third inning. The Pride knotted the score at 3-3 with a pair of runs in the fourth. Springfield took its first lead of the game with a run in the top of the eighth, before the home team scored twice in the bottom of the frame to take the opening game.
Blankenheim-Brown was 2-4 with a run batted in and a run scored, while senior catcher Jill Ceddia (Hopkinton, Mass.) staked the Lyons their early lead with a three-run home run for her first career long ball. Junior left fielder Juliette Zito (Woodbridge, Conn.) was 2-4 in the game and first year second base Ella Molinari (Grafton, Mass.) was 2-4 with a run scored. Senior right-handed starter Sofia Knopf (Norton, Mass.) picked up the win to improve to 8-5 on the season after giving up four runs (three earned) on 12 hits and no walks to go with a strikeout in eight complete innings.
Sophomore catcher Carissa Pecchia (Mamaroneck, N.Y.) paced the Pride offense with a 2-4 effort that included a double, an RBI and a run scored, while senior catcher Callie Gendron (Berlin, Conn.) was 1-4 with a double and a run batted in. Senior second base Alli Olsen (Ridgewood, N.J.) also chipped in going 2-5 with a run scored, a stolen base and an RBI. Sophomore starting pitcher Amelia DeRosa (Miller Place, N.Y.) allowed five runs (four earned) on 10 hits to go with a strikeout and no walks in seven and a third innings pitched and drops to 12-4 with the loss.
Wheaton faced a 4-3 deficit in its half of the eighth inning. First year designated player Taylor Barry (Hadley, Mass.) was placed on second base as per the international tie-breaker rule and scored when Molinari reached on a bunt single pushed toward the first base line. The throw to first was high and Barry continued around third base and slid across the plate with the tying run. Molinari advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt, before Blankenheim-Brown smacked a double to center field to drive in the winning run in Molinari.
The Lyons scored the first three runs of the game with one swing of the bat in the bottom of the second to take a 3-0 lead. Blankenheim-Brown served a single to right to open the frame, before senior shortstop Lindsey Oliveira (Westport, Mass.) ripped a single to center to put two runners on base with no outs for Ceddia. The catcher belted a home run over the left field fence to give Wheaton a three-run lead.
Springfield didn't waste any time getting a run back in the next half inning with Pecchia lifting a lead-off double over the center fielder's head, before Gendron traded places with her after crushing a pitch off the top of the left field fence to put the Pride on the board.
Springfield pulled even with a pair of runs in the top of the fourth to make it 3-3. Sophomore third base Emilia Santiago (West Hartford, Conn.) laced a single to center to open the inning, before being pushed to second on a sacrifice. Olsen came through with a single to the left-center gap to plate Santiago. DeRosa helped her cause with a single to left to put runners on the corners, before Olsen scored on a ground out to tie the contest.
The visitors scored a run in the eighth to take a 4-3 edge in extra innings. Senior right fielder Lucy Puskas (Roxbury, Conn.) was placed on second base and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt, before scampering home with the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly to center field off the bat of Santiago.
