NORTON, Mass. – Junior starting pitcher Peyton Blankenheim-Brown (Rio Linda, Calif.) scattered seven hits to hurl a shutout and senior right fielder Jillian Rohon (Southington, Conn.) hit a two-run homer to lead the number five seed Wheaton College (Mass.) softball team to a 6-0 win over fourth-seeded Worcester Polytechnic Institute this afternoon in the Second Round of the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference Championship Tournament at Clark Softball Field on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass. The game was relocated to Norton due to unplayable field conditions at higher-seeded teams in the tournament.
The Lyons improve to 26-13 on the season, while the Engineers dip to 24-15. The shutout marks the first time that WPI was held without a run since May 4, 2024 – a span of 44 games – when it fell to Babson. Wheaton advances to play top-seeded Massachusetts Institute of Technology today at 4:45 p.m., while WPI will play number three seed Springfield College on Thursday, May 8 at 12:00 p.m. at MIT in Cambridge, Mass.
The win was the first playoff win for the Lyons since a 3-2 victory over United States Coast Guard Academy on May 6, 2022 in the NEWMAC Tournament. It's the first shutout win in a playoff for Wheaton since an 8-0 triumph over Kean University in the NCAA Super Regional on May 16, 2015 and the first NEWMAC shutout playoff victory since a 1-0 showing against MIT on May 2, 2015. The decision was also the first playoff win over WPI since a 3-1 effort on April 25, 2014 in the NEWMAC Tournament.
The Lyons rapped out 10 hits, including four extra base hits, for their highest hit total in a postseason contest since April 30, 2016 when they collected 11 knocks against Wellesley College in the NEWMAC Tourney.
Blakenheim-Brown struck out one batter and did not issue a walk over seven innings to earn her fourth shutout and improve to 9-4 on the season for Wheaton. She also doubled in a run from the plate. Rohon reached base three times and drove in two runs to go with a run scored, while sophomore shortstop Ella Molinari (Grafton, Mass.) was 1-3 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored. Sophomore second base Taylor Barry (Hadley, Mass.) registered a game-high three hits in four at-bats and senior center fielder Grace DiBacco (Selkirk, N.Y.) was 2-4 with a triple and a run scored.
The Engineers were paced at the plate by junior designated player Elizabeth Jordan (Yardley, Pa.), who was 2-3, while first year right fielder Lucy Latour (North Dighton, Mass.) was 1-3 with a double from the leadoff spot. Sophomore starting pitcher Naomi Boldebuck (Billerica, Mass.) suffered the loss to drop to 16-5 after allowing three runs on seven hits and a walk in addition to a strikeout.
The Lyons manufactured two runs in the top of the first to take a 2-0 lead. Senior left fielder Juliette Zito (Woodbridge, Conn.) and DiBacco led off the game with back-to-back singles to right field, before a fielder's choice from Molinari put runners on the corners with one out for Wheaton. Blankenheim-Brown grounded out to second to plate Zito with the first run of the game, while Molinari pulled into second on the play. Barry beat out an infield single to third base and Molinari hesitated around third, but then broke for home to score the second run when the throw was low to draw a stretch from the WPI first base.
The Lyons tacked on single runs in the third and fifth innings to take a 4-0 margin. DiBacco tripled to right field to open the third, before scoring on a sacrifice fly to center off the bat of Molinari. Molinari's aggressive base running led to Wheaton's fourth run in the fifth when she smacked a lead-off double to left, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a passed ball.
The Lyons capped the scoring in the sixth with a pair of runs to boost their lead to six runs. Junior catcher Riley Dolan (Coram, N.Y.) drew a lead-off walk and later scored when Rohon crushed a pitch over the left field fence for her third homer of the year.
The Engineers' best chance to score came in the bottom of the fourth. Sophomore shortstop Sandy Fairbairn (Norton, Mass.) opened the frame with a single to left, stole second and went to third ahead of a single from junior first base Emma Nagy (Monroe, Wash.). First year catcher Ariana Kreuzer (Walpole, Mass.) flied out to right field and Fairbairn looked to score, but Rohon's throw home arrived well ahead of Fairbairn, who was caught in a run-down at third base to keep Blankenheim-Brown out of trouble.
WPI loaded the bases in its half of the first inning when sophomore center fielder Virginia McKinney (Larchmont, N.Y.) reached on a fielder's choice and junior third base Destiny Lum (Kahalu'u, Hawaii) and sophomore second base Riley O'Brien (Wynantskill, N.Y.) followed with consecutive singles to push the sacks full with one out. Blankenheim-Brown escaped the threat with a strikeout and a fly out.
