NORTON, Mass. – Senior right fielder Jillian Rohon (Southington, Conn.) homered and drove in a career-high five runs and sophomore starting pitcher Sophia De La Rosa (Middle Village, N.Y.) allowed just two hits to lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) softball team to an 8-0 shutout this afternoon over visiting Salve Regina University in game one of a twinbill to open the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference slate at Clark Softball Field on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.
The Lyons win their 11th in a row to improve to 15-2 overall and 1-0 in league play, while the Seahawks dip to 4-11 and 0-1.
Wheaton's six, seven and eight hitters combined to go 7-9 with five runs batted in and seven runs scored for the day.
The Lyons scored a run in the first and two in the second to open the contest, before putting two runs across in the fourth and three more in the sixth to end the game via the NCAA's eight-run mercy rule after five innings of play.
Rohon was 3-3 with a pair of doubles to give her eight total bases, while scoring twice for Wheaton. De La Rosa issued four walks and struck out five in six complete innings to earn the win and improve to 8-1. Senior left fielder Juliette Zito (Woodbridge, Conn.) was 2-3 with a run batted in, a run scored and three stolen bases from the top of the lineup, while sophomore second base Taylor Barry (Hadley, Mass.) was 2-3 with three runs scored. Sophomore third base Emma Boucher (Derry, N.H.) also contributed with two hits in three at-bats to go with two runs scored.
Senior center fielder Jacey Cosciello (Seymour, Conn.) paced Salve Regina's bats, going 1-3 with a stolen base, while sophomore right fielder Chloe Nittoly (Milford, Conn.) was 1-2. Senior right-handed starting pitcher Alex Kelly (East Meadow, N.Y.) suffered the loss to drop to 2-2 after giving up eight runs (five earned) on 10 hits and two walks to go with three strikeouts in five and two-thirds innings.
Zito led off the bottom of the first with a single up the middle for the Lyons and senior center fielder Grace DiBacco (Selkirk, N.Y.) reached base on an error with Zito later advancing to third to put runners on the corners with two outs. DiBacco looked to steal second and Zito broke for the plate on the throw, but the throw was cut off and re-directed home, just slightly behind Zito sliding across the plate with the game's first run as DiBacco pulled into second base to complete the double steal.
Wheaton added two more runs in the second to take a 3-0 margin. Barry served a single to center field and, an out later, Rohon got every bit of her pitch and crushed the ball deep over the left field fence for her second long ball of the season.
The Lyons padded their lead with a pair of runs in the fourth to take a five-run advantage. Barry and Boucher smacked back-to-back singles to left field, before Rohon drilled a double into the right center gap to score both runners and give the home team a 5-0 cushion.
Wheaton ended the game early with three more runs in the sixth to give them the requisite eight runs to enact the mercy rule. Barry reached on an error to open the frame and Boucher followed with a single to left field. Rohon delivered again with a double to left to plate Barry and put both runners in scoring position with no outs. One out later, Zito reached on an infield single with Boucher scoring the seventh run on the play and Rohon advancing to third. Sophomore shortstop Ella Molinari (Grafton, Mass.) came through with a single through the left side to score Rohon and end the game with two outs in the frame.
Both teams are due to square off in the nightcap to this doubleheader at 5:00 p.m.
