KISSIMMEE, Fla. – Senior pitcher Peyton Blankenheim-Brown (Rio Linda, Calif.) allowed just one hit and knocked in a run to lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) softball team to an 8-0 victory over Gordon College this afternoon at Fortune Road Athletic Complex in Kissimmee, Fla. as part of The Spring Games.
The Lyons improve to 8-2 on the season, while the Fighting Scots dip to 3-7.
Wheaton scored all the runs it needed with two in the first inning and added four more in the third and one each in the fourth and fifth innings to enact the eight-run mercy rule after five innings.
Blankenheim-Brown was brilliant from the circle, allowing just two walks, while fanning two in five complete innings to improve to a perfect 5-0 on the season for the Lyons. She also contributed at the plate, going 2-2. Junior shortstop Ella Molinari (Grafton, Mass.) was 2-2 with a solo home run, a walk and two runs scored, while first year left fielder Julia Miller (Cheshire, Conn.) was 1-2 with a run batted in, a run scored, a base on balls and a pair of stolen bases. Junior catcher Emma Boucher (Derry, N.H.) also contributed to the offensive output with a 1-2 effort that saw her drive in a run, score a run and work a walk.
Junior catcher Samantha Perkins (Tewksbury, Mass.) registered the lone hit for Gordon with a single in two at-bats. Junior starting pitcher Katie Melendy (Easton, Mass.) suffered the loss to drop to 2-3 on the year after allowing five runs (four earned) on six hits and two walks in two innings pitched.
Wheaton put a pair of runs on the board in the bottom of the first inning to take a 2-0 lead. First year third base Lexi Falcioni (North Branford, Conn.) singled and Molinari drew a walk with one out to set the table for Blankenheim-Brown to support her own cause. The pitcher delivered for the Lyons with an RBI-single to left field to bring Falcioni around to score the first run of the game. Wheaton tacked on another run with the benefit of a Fighting Scots' error later in the inning.
The Lyons widened their lead with four more runs in the third inning to take a 6-0 margin. Molinari, Blankenheim-Brown and Boucher all singled to open the frame to load the bases with no outs. Senior first base Brittany Dost (Centereach, N.Y.) drew a walk to force in Wheaton's third run, while senior second base Maggie Caron (Boxford, Mass.) and Miller were also issued consecutive free passes to push home two more runs and give the Lyons a 5-0 cushion. Reinbold drove in the sixth run for the Lyons with a fielder's choice on a knock to center field.
Molinari deposited a pitch over the center field fence for her second long ball of the year and a 7-0 Wheaton lead to open its half of the fourth inning. The Lyons manufactured its final run when Miller ripped a lead-off single to left field, stole second base, advanced to third base on a wild pitch and eventually stole home to end the game with Wheaton's eighth run in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Gordon's only hit in the game came with two outs in the top of the second when Perkins served a single to center field. Blankenheim-Brown did not surrender a hit over the final three and a third innings and allowed just two base runners on a walk and an error to close out the contest.
The Lyons return to action on Wednesday, March 18 when they travel to Springfield, Mass. to take on Western New England University for a 3:00 p.m. doubleheader, while the Fighting Scots play again tomorrow at 1:45 p.m. in Winter Haven. Fla against Pennsylvania State University New Kensington.
