NORTON, Mass. — Junior starting pitcher Amber Arcand (Millville, Mass.) assured herself of the win with a walk-off RBI double in the eighth inning to give the Wheaton College (Mass.) softball team a 4-3 victory over visiting Wellesley College this afternoon in the second game of a New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference twinbill at Clark Softball Field on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.
The Lyons have won three of their last four and improve to 24-10 overall and 9-7 in league play, while the Blue slip to 15-16-1 and 8-10. Wheaton's win total is its highest since the 2015 edition finished 34-10.
Wheaton rapped out 11 hits for the day with five of them coming in the team's final two at-bats.
Arcand earned the win in the circle, giving up three unearned runs on six hits and no walks to go with a strikeout over eight complete innings to improve to 4-1 on the season for the Lyons. Sophomore shortstop Ella Molinari (Grafton, Mass.) was 3-4 with a run batted in, while senior center fielder Grace DiBacco (Selkirk, N.Y.) was 1-3 with a double, an RBI, a run scored and a walk. Senior left fielder Juliette Zito (Woodbridge, Conn.) contributed with a 1-2 day, including a run batted in and a base on balls.
First year left fielder Ruijia Yang (Berwyn, Pa.) paced Wellesley at the plate, going 2-3 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored. Senior center fielder Charis Chung (San Gabriel, Calif.) also chipped in with a 1-4 effort, including a stolen base. Sophomore starting pitcher Sarah Wicker (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.) was saddled with the loss after starting the game and then finishing it in relief. She drops to 6-8 after giving up an unearned run on six hits and no walks, while fanning four batters.
Sophomore catcher Emma Boucher (Derry, N.H.) was placed on second base to start the bottom of the eighth for Wheaton as part of the international tie-breaker. One out later, Arcand came through with a double to right field to bring Boucher around to score the game-winning run.
The Lyons put themselves in position to win it in extra innings after erasing a 3-0 deficit heading into the seventh with three runs to knot the game at 3-3. Wheaton began the frame with a pair of pinch-hits to put runners on the corners with no outs. Junior Maggie Caron (Boxford, Mass.) punched a double down the left field line, before first year pinch-hitter Kathryn Copperthite (Branford, Conn.) ripped a single to right center field for her first collegiate hit to send Caron to third. Zito served a sacrifice fly to center field to score Caron with the first run of the game for Wheaton. DiBacco followed with a double to left field to score senior pinch-runner Jillian Rohon (Southington, Conn.) and cut the deficit to 3-2. Molinari continued the Lyons' comeback with a single to center field to bring DiBacco home with the tying run and send the contest into extra frames.
The Blue scored the first three runs of the game with single runs in the third, fourth and seventh innings. Yang led off the top of the third with a double to right center and later scored on a ground out by sophomore Alena Mulhern (Kingston, Mass.) to put Wellesley on the board. Wicker reached on an infield error to open the fourth inning, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, before pulling up at third base following a single up the middle from sophomore Jillian Colgan (Las Vegas, Nev.). Yang doubled the Blue lead with a single to left field to plate Wicker for a 2-0 lead. For the third time in the game, Wheaton committed an error in an inning and for the third time, Wellesley took advantage and scored a run to take a 3-0 margin in the top of the seventh. Yang reached on an infield error that allowed her to advance to second base, before taking third on a wild pitch. Sophomore Giana Jones (Fairfield, Calif.) followed with a sacrifice fly to center to knock in Yang and give the visitors a three-run lead before heading to the bottom of the seventh.
The Lyons return to the diamond on Friday, May 2 when they host Worcester Polytechnic Institute for a NEWMAC doubleheader at 3:00 p.m. on Clark Softball Field, while the Blue host conference foe Emerson College for a 3:00 p.m. twinbill on the same day to wrap up their regular season slate.
