Softball (11-11, 2-4) Splits Four Road NEWMAC Contests During Eight-Game Week

The Wheaton College softball team went 3-5 last week, picking up a 9-4 win and a 10-2 loss in six innings during a home doubleheader with Bridgewater State College on Tuesday before hitting the road for six games. The Lyons suffered two-five innings setbacks, 8-0 and 13-3, at nationally-ranked Rhode Island College on Thursday before splitting with New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) counterpart Babson College on Friday, dropping a 5-2 decision before defeating the Beavers, 3-1 in eight innings. On Saturday, Wheaton was downed by Springfield College, 8-2 in the opener before picking up an 8-4 win against the defending NEWMAC Tournament champs.

Sophomore Kristen Hunt's (Milford, CT/Jonathan Law) solo home run snapped a fifth-inning tie during the Lyons' opening contest with Bridgewater State, as she finished 3-for-4 with three runs and three RBI. Senior Stacey Kelleher (Brockton, MA/Brockton) plated a pair of runs, classmate Brady Benton (Concord, NH/Concord) stole two bases, and freshman Amanda Poplaski (North Reading, MA/North Reading) scored twice. Classmate Lesley Warn (Portland, ME/Deering) earned the win. In the nightcap, Hunt and senior Lynn Cotto (Brookfield, CT/Brookfield) each went 2-for-3, with Cotto driving in a run. Junior Andrea Bagley (Foxboro, MA/Foxboro) suffered the setback.

At Rhode Island College, which was ranked 23rd in the country by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA), the Lyons had two hits in the opener, including a double off the bat of sophomore Marissa Hobocan (Shelton, CT/Saint Joseph). Bagley was saddled with the loss. Kelleher was 2-for-3 with a run in the second contest, while Cotto and sophomore Nicole DeRosa (Greenwich, CT/Greenwich Academy) each smacked RBI doubles. Freshman Mary Fay (Stoughton, MA/Cardinal Spellman) struck out three while suffering the loss.

Babson scored all five of its first-game runs on two hits, with Bagley the hard-luck loser despite five strikeouts. Cotto was 2-for-3 with a run, while Kelleher swatted a double. In game two, sophomore Katy Salka's (Ayer, MA/Ayer) dramatic two-out, two-strike double in the top of the seventh scored Cotto from first to knot the game before Hobocan and Benton provided back-to-back RBI singles in the eighth. Hunt and Salka finished with two hits apiece, while Fay earned the win in relief, yielding only two hits during four shutout frames. Bagley struck out four in four innings, allowing just two knocks.

Against Springfield, the Pride scored the final six runs to break a tie in the opener. Hobocan doubled and scored twice, Kelleher provided an RBI double, Hunt had a run-scoring single, and DeRosa legged out a triple. Bagley fanned six. In game two, Benton went 2-for-3 with three runs and three RBI, drilling a three-run homer as part of a five-run fourth inning. Kelleher was 3-for-3, Poplaski had a pair of hits, and Hobocan scored twice. Fay went the distance for the win.

Benton is eighth in program history in career home runs (14), while Kelleher is tied for 10th (9). Kelleher is also tied for fifth in times hit by a pitch (6). Bagley is fifth in strikeouts (173), seventh in pitching appearances (53), eighth in innings pitched (243), tied for eighth in wins (22) and stands 10th in complete games (25). With four hit by pitches, Poplaski is tied for seventh in a single season.