NORTON, Mass. — Junior left fielder Juliette Zito (Woodbridge, Conn.) rapped out a season-high three hits, including a home run, and starting pitcher Sofia Knopf (Norton, Mass.) tossed her second consecutive two-hit shutout of the season to lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) softball team to a 3-0 victory over Clark University this afternoon in the first game of a New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference doubleheader at Clark Softball Field on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass. Today's two-game series between Wheaton and Clark was a designated pair of home contests for the Cougars.

The Lyons improve to 11-9 overall and a perfect 5-0 in league play, while the Cougars drop to 5-12 and 0-3.

Wheaton outhit Clark 10-2, including three first-inning doubles. The Lyons jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the opening frame and tacked on an insurance run in the fourth.  

Zito was 3-4 with a pair of doubles, a solo home run, two runs scored and knocked in a run for Wheaton, while Knopf recorded six strikeouts and allowed three walks over seven complete innings. Knopf did not allow a hit through the first three and two-thirds innings of work. Knopf helped her cause at the plate as well, working a career-high four walks -- all on full counts. Sophomore first base Peyton Blankenheim-Brown (Rio Linda, Calif.) contributed with her first multi-hit effort, going 2-4 with a double and a run batted in.

Clark tallied two hits through the contest. Sophomore designated player Magdalena Barthel (East Haven, Conn.) was 1-3, and recorded the first hit of the game during the bottom of the fourth inning with two outs. Sophomore second base Erin Slavin (Rocky Hill, Conn.) went 1-2 and led off the bottom of the fifth inning with the second hit for the Cougars. First-year starting pitcher Megan Dube (Leominster, Mass.) (4-3) pitched four innings and recorded three strikeouts and four walks, while yielding three runs.

Wheaton came out swinging right away with back-to-back doubles at the top of the first. Zito smacked a lead off double to left field. First year second base Ella Molinari (Grafton, Mass.) then followed suit and drove in Zito with an RBI double to make the score 1-0. Blankenheim-Brown cranked Wheaton's third double of the first inning to left field, which scored Molinari from second to give the Lyons a 2-0 lead.

After two scoreless innings in the second and third frames, Wheaton scored its final run of the game and increased its lead to 3-0 when Zito hit a lead off home run at the top of the fourth inning. Zito's home run marked the first home run this season and the third home run of her career. 

After allowing three walks and just two hits during her first four innings on the mound, Knopf was excellent over the final three frames, recording nine consecutive outs. Knopf improves to 6-4 on the season with her seventh complete game and fourth shutout recorded this season.