SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Sophomore starting pitcher Sofia De La Rosa (Middle Village, N.Y.) allowed just two runs in a complete game and senior center fielder Grace DiBacco (Selkirk, N.Y.) doubled home the eventual game-winning run to lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) softball team to a 3-2 victory over host Springfield College this afternoon in the first game of a New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference doubleheader at Potter Field in Springfield, Mass.
The Lyons improve to 22-9 overall and 7-6 in league play, while the Pride dip to 21-10 and 8-5.
Springfield opened the scoring with a run in the bottom of the first, before both teams pushed a run across in the fourth to keep the one-run margin intact for the Pride. Wheaton scored the final two runs of the game with the tying run in the fifth and the go-ahead run in the sixth.
De La Rosa gave up seven hits and issued just one walk to go with three strikeouts in seven innings to improve to 11-5 on the season for the Lyons, while DiBacco was 1-3 with a run scored and a walk. Senior left fielder Juliette Zito (Woodbridge, Conn.) was 2-4 with a double and an RBI. First year first base Madi Miller (Middle Village, N.Y.) knocked in a run behind a 1-4 effort and first year designated player Sangeeta Vaidya (Sunnyvale, Calif.) reached base three times, going 2-2 with a walk and scored a pair of runs.
Graduate student right fielder Lucy Puskas (Roxbury, Conn.) led Springfield at the plate with a 2-3 showing, while driving in a run. First year second base Brynlee Eckles (Ellington, Conn.) was 2-2 with a run scored and junior starting pitcher Amelia DeRosa (Miller Place, N.Y.) was 1-4 with a double and a run scored. Junior reliever Lily McCauliffe (Greenwich, N.Y.) was charged with the loss to drop to 4-1 after giving up a run on two hits in the final two innings.
Wheaton entered the top of the sixth in a 2-2 deadlock before scoring the final run of the contest. Vaidya punched a single to right field to lead off the frame, before moving to second on a sacrifice bunt. DiBacco came through with a two-out double to right field to plate Vaidya and give the Lyons a 3-2 edge.
The Pride broke into the scoring column with a run in the bottom of the first to take a 1-0 lead. DeRosa smacked a lead-off double to left and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt. She scampered home with the first run of the day on a sacrifice fly to right field off the bat of designated player Carissa Pecchia (Mamaroneck, N.Y.).
Wheaton pulled even with a run in the top of the fourth. Junior catcher Riley Dolan (Coram, N.Y.) served a one-out single to left field and later moved to third on a fielder's choice. Zito delivered an RBI single to center to knot the game at 1-1.
Springfield answered in kind with a run of its own in the bottom of the inning to retake the lead. Eckles dumped a single into center to open the frame, before Pecchia drew a walk to push Eckles into scoring position. One out later, Puskas delivered a run-scoring single to right to restore the one-run margin for the home team. It proved to be the last run of the game for the Pride.
The Lyons tied the game in the fifth and went ahead in the sixth. Wheaton played small ball to perfection with sophomore shortstop Ella Molinari (Worcester, Mass.) working a lead-off walk, before taking second on a sacrifice bunt. Miller ripped a two-out single to center field to give Wheaton the equalizer as Molinari crossed the plate.
Springfield looked to rally in the seventh with back-to-back one-out singles from junior first base Kate Katsetos (Brewster, N.Y.) and senior center fielder Marissa Seyfert (Farmingdale, N.Y.), but De La Rosa induced a game-ending double play when sophomore third base Emma Boucher (Derry, N.H.) fielded a ground ball at third, stepped on the bag and made the throw to first.
The teams face off again in the night cap.
