BABSON PARK, Mass. – Junior starting pitcher Peyton Blankenheim-Brown (Rio Linda, Calif.) spun a four-hit shutout to lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) softball team to a 1-0 victory over host Babson College in the nightcap of a doubleheader this evening at Alumni Field in Babson Park, Mass.

The Lyons improve to 20-8 overall and 5-5 in league play, while the Beavers fall to 14-7 and 6-4. Wheaton posted its eighth shutout of the year for its highest total since the 2013 edition recorded 10 shutouts.

Both teams combined for eight hits in the game with four apiece.

The visitors scored the only run of the game in the top of the first with the benefit of a pair of errors and a passed ball.

Blankenheim-Brown improves to 8-3 following her third shutout of the season. She did not allow a walk and struck out seven in seven full frames. Sophomore shortstop Ella Molinari (Grafton, Mass.) led the Lyons at the plate, going 2-3 with a double, while senior center fielder Grace DiBacco (Selkirk, N.Y.) was 1-2. Sophomore catcher Emma Boucher (Derry, N.H.) also chipped in going 1-3. 

Junior center fielder Sophia Pak (New Rochelle, N.Y.) paced Babson's offense with two singles in three at-bats. First year shortstop Maddy DeLong (Cranford, N.J.) was 1-2 with a stolen base and senior right fielder Sara Moore (Kennett Square, Pa.) also stole a base and was 1-3 at the plate. Graduate student pitcher Cameron Whiteford (Centerville, Md.) was outstanding for the home team, allowing just one unearned run on four hits and a walk to go with seven strikeouts.

Zito led off the game by reaching on an infield error for Wheaton, before moving to second on a sacrifice bunt. Molinari also reached base on an infield error to put runners on the corners with one out. Zito scored the only run of the game when she scampered home and avoided the tag on a passed ball.

The Beavers looked to answer right away when Moore opened the bottom of the frame with an infield single, stole second and advanced to third on a ground out. Blankenheim-Brown bared down for the Lyons, striking out the next batter before inducing an inning-ending pop-up to third base to end the threat. 

Neither team was able to advance a runner past second base for the remainder of the contest. Both teams were held hitless in the fifth and sixth innings, before Pak reached on an infield single in the seventh for Babson, but it proved to be the final hit of the day for either side.

Wheaton returns to action tomorrow when it travels to the Fenway neighborhood of Boston to take on Emmanuel College for a 5:00 p.m. doubleheader, while the Beavers head to Hartford, Conn. on April 16 to play Trinity College in a 2:00 p.m. twinbill.