NORTON, MA- The Wheaton College softball team opened its home and northern slates by dropping a pair of New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) contests to the United States Coast Guard Academy, 6-0 and 5-0 on Saturday at Clark Field. The Lyons fell to 8-6 overall, while the Bears improved to 10-2.

Wheaton had a promising beginning to the opener, as freshman Amanda Poplaski (North Reading, MA/North Reading) led off by walking on four pitches before being stranded after stealing second with two down. The following inning, the Bears got all the offense they would need, as freshman Maddie Buchert's (Metairie, LA) RBI single plated their first run before another Coast Guard player scored on a sequence following the hit.

Run-scoring hits from three Bears made it 5-0 in the fifth before Lyon sophomores Nicole DeRosa (Greenwich, CT/Greenwich Academy) and Katy Salka (Ayer, MA/Ayer) started the bottom of the inning with back-to-back singles, but the next three batters were retired. Coast Guard scored once more in the sixth inning.

Senior Stacey Kelleher (Brockton, MA/Brockton) and freshman Staley Salazar (Lakewood, CO/Bear Creek) joined DeRosa and Salka in the hit column, while junior Andrea Bagley (Foxboro, MA/Foxboro) suffered the loss, allowing four earned runs in five innings.

Freshman Hayley Feindel (River Ridge, LA) fired a four-hit shutout for the Bears, striking out 11 and walking one. Her catcher, sophomore Amanda Frederick (Lebanon, OH), had a pair of RBI doubles, while seniors Annette Boston (Oceanside, CA) and Colleen Denny (Clarence City, NY) and sophomore Becky Miller (Norco, CA) also had two hits apiece.

In the second contest, junior Courtney Wolf (Fredericksburg, VA) put Coast Guard up a run in the third with an RBI double before another Bear came around to score on an error. Wheaton trailed by just the 2-0 margin heading into the seventh, but three run-scoring hits by the visitors produced the final score.

Kelleher one-hopped a double to the fence in left field with one down in the fourth to break up Feindel's no-hit bid for one of two Lyon hits in the game, while Poplaski had Wheaton's other hit. Freshman Lesley Warn (Portland, ME/Deering), who allowed one earned run on seven knocks over the first six innings, yielded four earned runs in a complete-game effort.

Feindel struck out eight during her second shutout of the day, while senior Jeannie Crump (Roseville, CA) was 3-for-4 with two runs. Wolf doubled twice, Frederick had two hits and two runs, while freshman Jamie Kim (Irvine, CA) added a pair of hits.

Wheaton hosts local foe Bridgewater State College for a pair on Tuesday, with the doubleheader slated to begin at 3:00 p.m.