Wheaton College (MA)

WORCESTER, Mass. -- The Wheaton College (Mass.) softball team needed only six innings to take down host Clark University (Mass.) in game two of Friday's New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference doubleheader in Worcester, Mass. as they beat the Cougars 11-2.

Wheaton improved to 19-15 overall and 9-9 in the NEWMAC following the win. Clark fell to 15-20 overall and 4-14 in the NEWMAC after the loss.

Wheaton amassed 14 hits in the six-inning contest, including two home runs. Seniors Amber Arcand (Millville, Mass.) and Peyton Blankenheim-Brown (Rio Linda, Calif.) had the home run honors as each finished with two hits.

Blankenheim-Brown led the team with four RBI, just ahead of Arcand's three. Junior Emma Boucher (Derry, N.H.) and first year Mady Bryan (Halifax, Mass.) both had two RBI. Junior Taylor Barry (Hadley, Mass.) went 2-3 with a double to keep the offense moving. Junior Ella Molinari (Grafton, Mass.) stayed red-hot with three hits, including two doubles to drive her season OPS up to 1.221. Blankenheim-Brown tossed the entire six-inning affair, allowing four hits and two unearned runs. The six complete innings pushed her to 100.1 innings on the season and improved her season ERA to a 1.32. 

Clark was led by senior Emilie Spence (Margate, Fla.) as she finished 2-3 with two RBI. Sophomore Avery Dillon (Bethany, Conn.) and junior Jennifer Albano (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) were the only other Cougars with a hit. Senior Brooke Buzzeo (Trumbull, Conn.) started the game in the circle and completed five innings and two outs before ceding the rubber to junior Hanna Wagstaff (Ellsworth, Maine). Wagstaff tossed the last out of the sixth inning as she recorded just five pitches in the contest.

Wheaton started with productive at-bats, but failed to convert them into runs in the opening two innings. After stranding three runners on the base paths, they finally put a number on the scoreboard in the top of the third. Molinari led off the frame with a double, and was brought in by a Bryan single. Bryan was able to advance to second thanks to a Clark error, and Boucher bounced a double off the wall in left-center field to drive her home. Blankenheim-Brown scored Bryan with her 100th career hit, a double to left field, before Arcand continued the party on second base as she knocked a double to center. Four runs scored in the blink of an eye and Blankenheim-Brown set the next six Cougars down in order to preserve the 4-0 lead through four innings.

Boucher led off the fifth inning with a double and was quickly brought home by a Blankenheim-Brown blast over the wall in left field. Her sixth home run of the year made it three RBI in the game and six long shots on the year for the two-way senior. 

Albano and Spence were able to link base hits together to score two runs for Clark in the bottom half of the frame, ending the shutout. The Lyons responded with another four-run flurry in the top of the sixth inning. Molinari and Barry linked base hits together to put runners on the corners before Bryan brought Molinari home again with a single through the left side. Boucher added on another run with a single through the left side and advanced to second on the throw home as Barry touched the plate. Blankenheim-Brown added her fourth RBI with a sacrifice fly to right field before Arcand cleared the bases with a home run to right center field. Wagstaff came into the game to stop the damage, and did so with a ground out. 

Blankenheim-Brown pitched around a lead off base hit with a foul out and two ground outs as the Lyons knocked off the Cougars for 11-2 for the conference doubleheader sweep.

Wheaton will take the diamond tomorrow at noon against Emerson College for senior day on Clark Softball Field. The Cougars will conclude their conference slate with a crosstown match-up hosting Worcester Polytechnic Institute at noon.