Wheaton downs Babson before second game halted by weather

April 7, 2006

BABSON PARK, MA- The Wheaton College softball team, ranked 12th in this week's National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) poll, knocked off defending New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament champion Babson College, 3-2 in 10 innings on Friday during the front end of a scheduled doubleheader. The second game, which the Lyons led, 4-1 after four innings, was suspended due to inclement weather and will be resumed at a later date. Wheaton moved to 16-7 overall and 5-2 in the NEWMAC and snapped Babson's five-game winning streak. The Beavers are 14-5 and 2-1.

Game one began inauspiciously for the Lyons, as junior Andrea Cartullo (Holbrook, MA/Cardinal Spellman) and senior Meghan Gaskell (Uxbridge, MA/Uxbridge) slugged opposite-field solo home runs in the first for the Beavers. From there, sophomore hurler Audrey Poulton (Charlestown, RI/Chariho Regional) limited Babson to just four base runners and one hit, a one-out single in the fifth, over the final 9.1 innings.

The Lyons broke through in the fourth, as Poulton and sophomore Alix Brozman (Chappaqua, NY/Horace Greeley) each singled with one down and moved up on stolen bases. Immediately after sophomore Meredith Gorton (Warwick, NY/Warwick Valley) walked, Poulton trotted home on an infield error. Gorton played a part in the game-tying run, as well, by reaching on an error to begin the seventh and eventually coming around on junior Nicole Lachance's (Rochester, NH/Spaulding) one-out double.

Babson had the best scoring opportunity during the first two extra innings, as Beavers stood on second and third with one down in the ninth, but Poulton induced a pair of ground ball outs to end the frame. In the 10th inning, Wheaton used the international tiebreaker and a pair of walks, including one intentional, to load the bases with two down. Sophomore Erika Marini (Pawtucket, RI/Saint Raphael Academy) promptly came through with a single back up the box to drive in freshman pinch-runner Lynn Cotto (Brookfield, CT/Brookfield) with the eventual game-winning run.

Lachance went 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles out of Wheaton's leadoff spot, while Brozman finished 2-for-5. The Lyons picked up eight hits and five walks but left 14 runners on base. Poulton earned the win after allowing only the three hits and two runs during 10 innings of work, and she walked three and struck out four. Gaskell went the distance for Babson, allowing two unearned runs on eight hits while walking five and striking out seven.

Wheaton took a quick lead in game two, as Lachance led off the contest with a solo blast. In the fourth inning, the Lyons tacked on three more runs behind junior Keely Nowosacki's (Shrewsbury, MA/Shrewsbury) RBI single and Marini's two-run triple off the right field fence. Babson finally broke through against Wheaton sophomore hurler Jodi Moynagh (Worcester, MA/Holy Name Central Catholic) in the bottom of the inning, as senior Erica Berry (Malden, MA/Austin Prep) homered to cut the Beavers' deficit to 4-1, but the rain followed after the completion of the fourth inning.

The Lyons host Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in a NEWMAC doubleheader tomorrow at 12:00 p.m.

This page is maintained by Scott Dietz. Last updated on 4/8/06.
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