NORTON, Mass. – The Worcester Polytechnic Institute softball team was held without a hit through the first three innings, before scoring nine combined runs in the fourth and fifth innings to come away with a 9-0 victory over host Wheaton College (Mass.) this afternoon in the first game of a New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference doubleheader at Clark Softball Field on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.
The Engineers improve to 23-14 overall and 12-7 in league play, while the Lyons slip to 24-11 and 9-8.
WPI scored three times in the fourth, before erupting for six runs in the fifth to ultimately enact the NCAA eight-run mercy rule.
Senior center fielder Grace DiBacco (Selkirk, N.Y.), sophomore shortstop Ella Molinari (Grafton, Mass.), sophomore third base Emma Boucher (Derry, N.H.) and junior catcher Riley Dolan (Coram, N.Y.) all singled to account for Wheaton's four hits. Sophomore starting pitcher Sofia De La Rosa (Middle Village, N.Y.) suffered the loss to dip to 12-6, giving up nine runs (one earned) on seven hits and four walks, while fanning two batters.
Sophomore starting pitcher Naomi Boldebuck (Billerica, Mass.) spun a four-hit shutout for the Engineers to improve to 15-4 on the season, while striking out two and issuing just one walk. Junior left fielder Meg Sherwood (Norfolk, Mass.) paced the visitors at the plate, going 2-3 with a double, two runs batted in, a stolen base and a run scored, while junior first base Emma Nagy (Monroe, Wash.) was 1-2 with two RBI. Sophomore shortstop Sandy Fairbairn (Norton, Mass.) contributed with a 1-2 day in addition to knocking in a run and scoring twice.
WPI took advantage of three errors to push three runs across in the fourth inning with two outs to break the scoreless tie. Junior third base Destiny Lum (Kahalu'u, Hawaii) drew a leadoff walk, before sophomore second base Riley O'Brien (Wynantskill, N.Y.) belted a double to center field for the Engineers' first hit of the game. Fairbairn also worked a walk to load the bases. First year designated player Colleen Mayer (Hillsborough, N.J.) hit a fly ball to center field, but senior right fielder Jillian Rohon (Southington, Conn.) threw a strike to the plate to cut down Lum trying to score on the play to put De La Rosa one out away from escaping the frame unscathed. First year catcher Ariana Kreuzer (Walpole, Mass.) reached on an infield error, which scored O'Brien with the game's first run. The infield error proved to be a game-changer with Nagy following with a single to left to plate Fairbairn. Sherwood reached on an infield single and Kreuzer came around to score the third run of the inning on a throwing error.
WPI broke the game open with six runs in the fifth to ultimately end the contest early. The Engineers saw the first five batters of the inning reach base to contribute to the six-run rally. Sophomore center fielder Virginia McKinney (Larchmont, N.Y.) reached on an infield error to open the frame, before Lum singled up the middle and O'Brien worked a walk to load the bases with no outs. Fairbairn and Mayer each came through with back-to-back RBI singles up the middle to boost the Engineers' lead to 5-0. Nagy later hit a sacrifice fly and Sherwood cracked a two-run double to left field to give WPI an 8-0 cushion. The Engineers capped the game's scoring when first year right fielder Lucy Latour (North Dighton, Mass.) ripped a double to the left-center field gap to plate Sherwood with the ninth run of the contest.
The teams will meet again in the second game of the twinbill in Norton, Mass.
