FORT MYERS, FL- The Wheaton College softball team completed its 12-game Florida trip on a three-game winning streak, downing New England foes Bowdoin College, 5-3 and Curry College, 6-2 on Thursday during the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic at the Lee County Sports Complex. The Lyons improved to 8-4, having opened its season by playing a pair of contests each of the last six days.

Against Bowdoin, Wheaton wasted no time grabbing the lead, as sophomore Marissa Hobocan (Shelton, CT/Saint Joseph) singled with one down in the top of the first inning before later coming home on senior Stacey Kelleher's (Brockton, MA/Brockton) two-out base knock. Kelleher added another RBI single with two down in the third, and another run scoring on the play thanks to an error.

After the Polar Bears used a two-out hit to make it 3-1 in the third, Lyon senior Brady Benton (Concord, NH/Concord) belted her second home run of the spring, a two-run shot to left, during the fifth inning. Bowdoin scored twice in the bottom of the frame and had a runner on second with no one out, but freshman hurler Lesley Warn (Portland, ME/Deering) induced two fly-ball outs before striking out a Polar Bear to end the threat. She escaped a two-on, two-out jam in the sixth with a fly to Benton in center, and freshman left fielder Staley Salazar (Lakewood, CO/Bear Creek) tracked down two balls in the seventh, including one on the run toward the gap, before Warn got the final batter to tap back to the circle.

Kelleher finished 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI, Salazar was 2-for-3, and sophomore Nicole DeRosa (Greenwich, CT/Greenwich Academy) added two hits, including a double. Warn yielded two earned runs on nine hits during a complete-game effort, striking out three without a walk. Senior Karen Reni (Ashland, MA/Ashland) took the loss for 1-2 Bowdoin, allowing five runs on eight hits in five innings.

Wheaton employed another quick start during its contest with Curry, plating three runs on five hits in the bottom of the first inning. Sophomore Kristen Hunt's (Milford, CT/Jonathan Law) RBI single with one down was soon followed by back-to-back run-scoring hits by classmate Katy Salka (Ayer, MA/Ayer) and senior Lynn Cotto (Brookfield, CT/Brookfield) with two out.

The Colonels cut their deficit to 3-1 in the third and had two runners on with only one out, but senior Andrea Bagley (Foxboro, MA/Foxboro) fanned the final two batters of the frame, and Cotto's two-out, two-run single in the bottom half pushed Wheaton's lead to four.

Curry loaded the bases with one down in the sixth, but Bagley induced an RBI groundout before striking out the last Colonel of the frame. The Lyons plated an unearned run in the home half, and Bagley worked around a bad-hop double in the seventh to keep Curry off the board, with Benton sliding in and securing the final out of the ballgame.

Cotto paced Wheaton by going 2-for-3 with three RBI, Hobocan also went 2-for-3, and freshman Amanda Poplaski (North Reading, MA/North Reading) added a pair of hits. Bagley yielded one earned run on eight hits in seven innings, striking out eight and walking one. Senior Katie O'Neill (Braintree, MA/Fontbonne Academy) took the loss for 1-5 Curry, allowing five runs in 4.1 innings.

The Lyons now return north, where they will take on Bridgewater State College next Thursday in a doubleheader beginning in Norton at 3:00 p.m.