NORTON, Mass. – The Wheaton College (Mass.) softball team was defeated by visiting Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 6-2, 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 fall to 24-12 overall and 9-9 in NEWMAC play, while the Engineers improve to 24-14 and 13-7. WPI locked up the number four seed in the upcoming NEWMAC Championship Tournament in its final game of the regular season, while Wheaton clinched a playoff spot as well.
WPI took advantage of three Wheaton errors and scored all of its runs on just six hits. The Engineers scored all the runs they needed with three in the first inning, before tacking on a run in the fifth for a 4-0 margin. The Lyons got two runs back in the fourth to cut the deficit in half, but WPI added single runs in the fifth and seventh for a four-run victory.
First year first base Kathryn Copperthite (Branford, Conn.) was 1-3 with a run batted for Wheaton. Senior center fielder Grace DiBacco (Selkirk, N.Y.), Ella Molinari (Grafton, Mass.) each singled, while junior relief pitcher Brittany Dost (Centereach, N.Y.) collected her first collegiate hit with a single for the Lyons. She allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits and three walks in seven innings. Junior starting pitcher Amber Arcand (Millville, Mass.) was saddled with the loss after yielding three unearned runs on a hit without getting an out, before leaving the game with an injury.
Sophomore starting pitcher Naomi Boldebuck (Billerica, Mass.) picked up her second win of the day to improve to 16-4 after allowing two runs on four hits and two walks to go with five strikeouts in seven complete innings for the Engineers. Sophomore second base Riley O'Brien (Wynantskill, N.Y.) homered and doubled and finished a triple shy of the cycle to go with an RBI and two runs scored, while first year catcher Ariana Kreuzer (Walpole, Mass.) was 1-1 with two sacrifice flies to knock in a pair of runs. Junior third base Destiny Lum (Kahalu'u, Hawaii) contributed by going 2-4 with a run batted in and two runs scored.
WPI took advantage of a pair of errors to score three times in the top of the first to take a 3-0 lead. The first three batters all reached to open the game for the Engineers. First year right fielder Lucy Latour (North Dighton, Mass.) reached base on an infield error and advanced all the way to third base on the play. Sophomore center fielder Virginia McKinney (Larchmont, N.Y.) drew a walk to put runners on the corners with no outs. Lum drilled a line drive off Arcand in the pitching circle to plate Latour with the first run of the game. Lum and O'Brien later moved into scoring position on a wild pitch, before sophomore shortstop Sandy Fairbairn (Norton, Mass.) reached on an infield error with both Lum and O'Brien scoring on the play to give WPI three unearned runs on the play.
The Engineers increased their lead to 4-0 with a run in the third inning. Lum laced a single up the middle to lead off the frame, before O'Brien doubled to center to put both runners in scoring position with no outs. Kreuzer knocked in Lum with a sacrifice fly to give the visitors a four-run advantage.
Wheaton broke through with its first run in eight innings against Boldebuck, who tossed a five-inning shutout in the first game of the day. The Lyons ended up with two runs in the frame to pull within 4-2. DiBacco and Molinari opened the inning with back-to-back singles that put DiBacco on third base with no outs. Sophomore catcher Emma Boucher (Derry, N.H.) reached on a fielder's choice to drive in DiBacco from third with Wheaton's first run. Copperthite followed with an RBI single up the middle to plate Molinari with the second run for the home team.
WPI bumped its lead to four with a run in the fifth and another in the seventh. O'Brien ripped a leadoff double to center field and later scored on another Kreuzer sacrifice fly. O'Brien capped the day's scoring for both teams when she launched her seventh round-tripper of the year to give the Engineers a 6-2 lead.
The Lyons return to action tomorrow when they travel to Boston, Mass. to take on NEWMAC rival Emerson College in a 1:30 p.m. twinbill to close out the regular season slate.
