NORTON, Mass. — The Wheaton College (Mass.) softball team was defeated by visiting Babson College, 2-1, to salvage a split of a New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference doubleheader this afternoon at Clark Softball Field in Norton, Mass.
The Lyons slip to 14-11 overall and 4-6 in league play, while the Beavers improve to 13-16 and 5-5.
The teams did all of their scoring before the fourth inning and combined for just nine hits, including five for Wheaton.
The Lyons were led offensively by senior right fielder Amber Arcand (Millville, Mass.), who was 2-3 with an RBI. Junior third base Emma Boucher (Derry, N.H.) was 1-3 with a run scored and first year left fielder Julia Miller (Cheshire, Conn.) was 1-2. Senior right-handed starting pitcher Peyton Blankenheim-Brown (Rio Linda, Calif.) hurled seven innings and allowed two unearned runs on four hits and a walk, while fanning a batter. She falls to 8-5 on the season.
Junior starting pitcher Katie Vlacich (Concord, N.H.) allowed just one run on five hits to lead Babson. The right-hander struck out four and walked four in seven complete innings to improve to 3-8 on the season for Babson. Junior left fielder Emily Walsh (Flemington, N.J.) paced the visitors, going 1-3 with a double and a run scored, while sophomore catcher Belle DiCampello (Pottstown, Pa.) was 1-3 with a double.
Wheaton scored its only run in the bottom of the second to take a 1-0 edge. Boucher laced a single through the left side, before moving to second on a sacrifice bunt. Arcand came through with a single to center to bring Boucher around to score the first run of the contest.
First year second base Charly Landow (Wayne, Pa.) opened the top of the third with a single up the middle, before Walsh grounded to second but the throw was not handled by the Lyon first base and it rolled into the Beaver dugout. By rule, the runners advanced two bases and Landow was able to score the tying run, while Walsh was placed on second base. Walsh moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and scampered home on a sacrifice fly off the bat of junior first base Lexi Sealey (Pleasant Hill, Calif.) to give Babson the lead for good at 2-1.
Vlacich did the rest for the Beavers, allowing just two hits for the remainder of the game and did not allow a runner past second base in the final five frames. Blankenheim-Brown was just as good for Wheaton, retiring 12 straight batters before allowing a two-out single in the seventh.
The Lyons will be in action again when they travel to Wellesley, Mass. to play league foe Wellesley College on Saturday, April 18 at Noon, while Babson returns to the diamond tomorrow when it hosts United States Coast Guard Academy for a league twinbill at the same time.
