WORCESTER, Mass. — Senior starting pitcher Sophia Knopf (Norton, Mass.) allowed just one run on six hits and sophomore first base Peyton Blankenheim-Brown (Rio Linda, Calif.) hit a home run and knocked in a pair of runs to lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) softball team over host Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 4-0, this afternoon in the first game of a New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference doubleheader at Rooftop Field in Worcester, Mass.
The Lyons improve to 19-15 overall and 12-5 in conference play, while the Engineers drop to 20-14-1 and 11-6.
Wheaton got on the board with a run in the top of the first and added two more in the second to take a 3-0 lead. The Lyons tacked on an insurance run in the fifth, before WPI broke into the scoring column in the bottom of the seventh to set the final at 4-1.
Blankenheim-Brown was 3-4 with a run scored for Wheaton, while junior left fielder Juliette Zito (Woodbridge, Conn.) was 2-4 with a triple, a run batted in and a run scored. Senior catcher Jill Ceddia (Hopkinton, Mass.) was 2-4 with a run scored and junior center fielder Grace DiBacco (Selkirk, N.Y.) was 2-2 with a walk. Knopf had hurled six innings of scoreless ball, before giving up a solo homer to begin the seventh for the only run she had allowed in the game. The right-hander improves to 10-5 on the season after surrendering a walk and striking out a batter in seven complete innings over just 75 pitches.
Sophomore first base Emma Nagy (Monroe, Wa.) led the Engineers at the plate, going 2-3 with a home run and a run scored, while senior right fielder Alex Sheehan (Marion, Mass.) was 1-2. First year starting pitcher Naomi Boldebuck (Billerica, Mass.) took the loss, allowing four runs on eight hits and three bases on balls to go with three strikeouts.
It took just two batters for the Lyons to get on the board after Zito smacked a lead-off triple to left field and scored on a sacrifice fly to center off the bat of first year designated player Taylor Barry (Hadley, Mass.) for a 1-0 edge.
Wheaton scored two more runs in the second with its second run coming even earlier in the frame. Blakenheim-Brown crushed a pitch over the right field fence for her first collegiate long ball to open the inning. Ceddia reached on an infield single to shortstop, before DiBacco drew a one-out walk. Zito hit a ground ball to the infield that resulted in DiBacco getting hung up on the bases, while Ceddia scored from third to give the Lyons a 3-0 margin.
Wheaton added another run in the fifth to take a four-run advantage. First year second base Ella Molinari (Grafton, Mass.) and senior third base Bryanna Agan (Averill Park, N.Y.) drew back-to-back one-out walks, before Blankenheim-Brown came through with a single to right field to drive in Molinari to make it a 4-0 game for the Lyons.
Knopf entered the top of the seventh after retiring six straight batters and had allowed a base runner as far as second base just twice in the game. Nagy spoiled the shutout bid after hitting a round tripper over the left field fence to open the bottom of the seventh and give the home team its only run of the game.
