KISSIMMEE, Fla. — The Wheaton College (Mass.) softball team was defeated by Catholic University of America, 4-1, today at Fortune Road Athletic Complex in Kissimmee, Fla. as part of The Spring Games.
The Lyons are handed defeat for the first time this season and drop to 3-1, while the Cardinals improve to a perfect 6-0 for their best start since winning their initial eight games of the 2021 campaign.
Catholic collected nine hits, but also committed four errors.
Sophomore second base Taylor Barry (Hadley, Mass.) was 1-2 with a walk for Wheaton, while sophomore shortstop Ella Molinari (Grafton, Mass.) knocked in the Lyons' lone run and senior center fielder Grace DiBacco (Selkirk, N.Y.) scored a run. Junior starting pitcher Peyton Blankenheim-Brown (Rio Linda, Calif.) was saddled with the loss to dip to 1-1 after giving up a pair of runs on three hits to go with a pair of strikeouts.
Sophomore starting pitcher Alex Pley (Medford, N.J.) earned the victory to improve to 2-0 after allowing one unearned run on just one hit (a comebacker line drive that deflected off her glove), while striking out one and issuing one base on balls over four innings of work for the Cardinals. First year relief pitcher Sophia Colangelo (Jupiter, Fla.) tossed a pair of scoreless innings and struck out two without issuing a walk, before senior reliever Amy Gastright (Croom, Md.) picked up her first save of the season with a scoreless seventh that included a walk and a strikeout. Junior shortstop Katie Scolese (Alexandria, Va.) was the only hitter in the contest with multiple hits, going 3-4 with a double, a stolen base and a pair of runs scored, while junior third base Aubrynn Arcement (New Orleans, La.) hit a home run in three trips to the plate. Junior Olivia Stinchcomb (Herndon, Va.), junior Kerri Hatcliffe (Bellmore, N.Y.) and sophomore Elise Faxon (Berkeley Heights, N.J.) all registered a single and an RBI for Catholic.
Following two scoreless frames, Arcement snapped a string of nine shutout innings for the Wheaton pitching staff by depositing a pitch over the center field fence to give the Cardinals a 1-0 edge. Prior to the knock, the Lyons had only trailed for a total of one half inning over a span of 25 innings. Wheaton matched the run in the bottom of the inning to pull even at 1-1. DiBacco and senior right fielder Jillian Rohon (Southington, Conn.) each reached base via infield throwing errors, before Barry reached on an infield single to load the bases with one out. Molinari flied out to center field to bring home DiBacco, who scampered home from third base to knot the game at 1-1.
Catholic scored a run in the fourth and tacked on two more in the sixth to spell the difference in the contest at 4-1. Scolese opened the fourth with a double down the left field line, advanced to third on a ground out and scored on a sacrifice fly to center field off the bat of Stinchcomb to double the Cardinals' lead at 2-1. Junior Sam Grillo (Island Park, N.Y.) and Scolese opened the top of the sixth with back-to-back singles, before Wheaton pitching got the next two outs. Catholic received consecutive clutch RBI singles from Hatcliffe and Faxon to pad the Cardinals' lead to three.
The Lyons were unable to mount a comeback in their final two times at bat.
Wheaton returns to Fortune Road on March 11 to play Washington & Jefferson College at 1:45 p.m., while the Cardinals return to action on March 10 when they take on Skidmore University at 9:00 a.m.
