Power surge, stellar pitching push softball Lyons back to .500

March 15, 2007

FORT MYERS, FL- The Wheaton College softball team outscored its opponents, 15-3 and yielded just six total hits during a pair of victories on Thursday at the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic. The Lyons completed their 12-game spring break trip by extending their winning streak to four games with a 6-2 win over Transylvania University of Kentucky and a 9-1, five-inning triumph against North Park University of Illinois. The Blue and White is 6-6.

Against Transylvania, which received votes in last week's National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) poll, junior Jodi Moynagh (Worcester, MA/Holy Name Central Catholic) carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning. The Lyons took the lead for good in the bottom of the second when sophomore Katelynn Hanewich (Bradenton, FL/Lakewood Ranch) tripled with two down and came home on the front end of a double steal with Moynagh.

In the third, junior Audrey Poulton's (Charlestown, RI/Chariho Regional) RBI single capped a run of four straight Wheaton hits to open the inning, and senior Jessica DePolito (Taunton, MA/Coyle and Cassidy) smacked a run-scoring single with two down. After the Pioneers tallied an unearned run in the fourth, junior Erika Marini (Pawtucket, RI/Saint Raphael Academy) countered in the bottom of the frame by driving a shot down the left field line for an inside-the-park homer. Freshman Merry MacDonald (Braintree, MA/Braintree) cracked an RBI single later in the inning, and another run scored on a two-out error.

Junior Melissa Sharpe (Lexington, KY/Dunbar) dropped a triple into center leading off the fifth for Transylvania's first hit and scored one batter later. From there, the toughest test Moynagh faced was a one-on, none-out situation in the seventh, but she recorded a strikeout for the first out after a 13-pitch at bat, fanned the next batter, and the Lyon defense caught a runner trying to reach third on an ensuing hit for the final out.

Moynagh went the distance while fanning a career-high-tying 11, walking one, allowing one earned run, and yielding just four hits. Junior Alix Brozman (Chappaqua, NY/Horace Greeley) went 2-for-3 with two runs, while Hanewich, MacDonald and senior Nicole Lachance (Rochester, NH/Spaulding) each added a pair of hits to the 11-hit attack. Pioneer senior Lyndsey Mayberry (Villa Hills, KY/Dixie Heights) suffered the loss for 10-3 Transylvania after giving up five earned runs and all 11 Wheaton hits in six innings with one walk and no strikeouts.

The second contest was highlighted by another sharp pitching performance, as freshman Andrea Bagley (Foxboro, MA/Foxboro) allowed two hits within the first six pitches but none thereafter, and the Lyon offense stayed hot with 15 hits and nine runs between the fourth and fifth innings. Bagley went all five innings, striking out six and walking none, after yielding a leadoff home run in the top of the first to junior Susan Domenick (Wilmette, IL/New Trier) and a single to the next batter, junior Katie Batchelor (Saint Charles, IL/Saint Charles North).

From there, Bagley was nearly untouchable on her final 61 pitches, allowing only the cleanup hitter to reach on a fielder's choice in the first while retiring the last 13 Viking batters. Wheaton's offense broke out in the fourth, plating four runs with two down. Brozman lined a single into right to drive home the first run, while Lachance immediately followed with a three-run, inside-the-park homer into the right center alley. In the fifth, five more runs scampered home. DePolito launched a two-run, inside-the-park long ball into the right center gap, while Lachance, MacDonald and Poulton smacked consecutive two-out singles to end the game.

Lachance went 2-for-4 with two runs and four RBI, MacDonald and Poulton each were 3-for-4, and DePolito was 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBI. Hanewich had another two-hit game, as she and sophomore Brady Benton (Concord, NH/Concord) each doubled. Senior Kelly Haymaker (Melrose Park, IL/Immaculate Conception Triton Community College) took the loss for 4-4 North Park, yielding six earned runs in 4.2 innings.

Wheaton heads back north, where the Lyons begin New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play on Sunday, March 25 at Smith College with a 12:00 p.m. doubleheader.

This page is maintained by Scott Dietz. Last updated on 3/20/07.
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