NEW LONDON, Conn. - The Wheaton College (Mass.) softball team scored four runs in the top of the sixth inning, but fell just short of defeating the United States Coast Guard Academy as the Bears came out on top with a 5-4 win in the second game of Friday's New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference doubleheader in New London.
Wheaton fell to 11-9 overall and 2-4 in the NEWMAC after the loss, while Coast Guard improved to 12-8 overall and 6-2 in the conference after the win.
Senior
Peyton Blankenheim-Brown (Rio Linda, Calif.) got the start for Wheaton and tossed the complete game while striking out five and allowing only six hits. Junior
Emma Boucher (Derry, N.H.) led the Wheaton offense with two RBI on just one hit. Senior catcher
Riley Dolan (Coram, N.Y.) went 3-4 with a double and came around to score a run, while junior
Ella Molinari (Grafton, Mass.) finished 2-4 with an RBI. First year
Julia Miller (Cheshire, Conn.) plated a run with her only hit of the day to round out the scoring for Wheaton.
Sophomore Hayden Reilly (Prosper, Texas) went 2-3 with three RBI and a home run to lead the Bears, while junior Abriana Schmutz (Marysville, Ohio) went 1-2 with an RBI and a hit-by-pitch. Sophomore Madeline Kibler (Effingham, Ill.) added a double while senior Maura Murphy (Bristow, Va.) went 1-3 with an RBI of her own. Senior Dana Walker (Macon, Ga.) pitched the complete game, allowing three earned runs on seven hits while striking out six batters. The start was made all the more impressive given the fact that Walker tossed 1.2 innings in the first game of the Friday doubleheader.
Wheaton and Coast Guard each played through a scoreless tie after an uneventful first two innings. Schmutz finally started the scoring in the third inning after Kibler reached second with a double. A double for Schmutz drove in the run and kept the rally alive for the Bears. Reilly followed up Schmutz with an RBI single to make it 2-0 and advanced to second on the throw. Murphy was up next, and made it three hits in a row with a single through the left side to make it 3-0.
The Lyons loaded up the bases in the top of the fourth, but failed to score after Walker escaped the jam with a line out and a ground out. Blankenheim-Brown finished the fourth by retiring the side in order, but the bottom of the fifth would prove less fortunate. Schmutz wore a pitch that crept too far inside to reach base and swiftly stole second. Reilly would have scored the runner even from first base as she got a hold of the 10th pitch of the at-bat and sent it over the wall for a two-run home run. A nifty double play from foul territory caught Murphy napping at second base to end the inning, but the damage was already done.
Wheaton responded perfectly, despite the tough prior inning. Dolan led off with a double and scored off of a Miller single to put Wheaton on the board. Miller advanced to second after a passed ball, and got to third after Arcand's ground out advanced her to the brink of scoring. Molinari wrapped a single inside the right-field foul line to score Miller before Blankenheim-Brown walked. Boucher came up next and smacked a single into right-center field to score two runs, making it a 5-4 ballgame. The Lyons fouled out to end the inning, putting all the pressure on the bottom of the order in the seventh.
Walker pitched her best inning of the day to secure the win for Coast Guard, striking out the first two batters she faced and retiring the third with a routine ground ball to third to slam the door shut on any Wheaton comeback hopes. The Bears held on to win game two 5-4.
Wheaton will return to Norton for a doubleheader with Springfield College at 12:00 p.m. The Lyons will be celebrating their Morgan's Message game ahead of the first pitch. Coast Guard will also be in action tomorrow as they play two against number 22 ranked Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester tomorrow at noon.
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