Loudenburg reaches 500 career victories during twinbill split with Clark

April 14, 2007

NORTON, MA- Head coach Gina Loudenburg became the 15th coach in Division III history with 500 career wins, and senior Nicole Lachance (Rochester, NH/Spaulding) hit three home runs as the Wheaton College softball team split a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) doubleheader with Clark University at Clark Field on Saturday. The Cougars won game one, 11-5 before the Lyons took the nightcap, 14-7. Wheaton is now 20-12 overall and second in the league at 10-4, while Clark is 15-13 and 6-6.

Despite Lachance's 3-for-3 effort with a pair of solo home runs, her second career multi-homer game, the top three batters in Clark's order carried it to victory in the opener. Juniors Julie Parnell (Webster, MA/Bartlett) and Heather Warren (Upland, CA/Upland) and freshman Lauren Blake (Oakland, ME/Messalonskee) combined to go 11-for-13 with eight runs and six RBI, while the rest of the team was 4-for-23. The visitors put up three runs in each the first, third and seventh innings. Warren had an RBI single in the second and a two-run single in the third, while Parnell smacked a run-scoring double in the third. Each added RBI singles in the seventh.

Lachance homered leading off the first before sending another shot over the left center fence in the fifth inning to make the score 7-2. After another Clark run scored, Wheaton scratched out two runs in the sixth thanks to RBI singles from sophomore Brady Benton (Concord, NH/Concord) and freshman Merry MacDonald (Braintree, MA/Braintree) and had an opportunity for more but left the bases loaded while trailing 8-4. MacDonald and senior Jessica DePolito (Taunton, MA/Coyle and Cassidy) each went 2-for-3, while junior Audrey Poulton (Charlestown, RI/Chariho Regional) suffered the loss after allowing four runs in two innings. Classmate Jodi Moynagh (Worcester, MA/Holy Name Central Catholic) struck out eight batters in relief.

Parnell finished 5-for-5 with four runs and two RBI, while Warren was 4-for-4 with four RBI. Blake went 2-for-4 with three runs, while freshman Darcy Kurashige-Elliott (Berkeley, CA/Berkeley) drove in a pair. Freshman Melissa Traft (Milton, MA/Milton) gave up three earned runs on 11 hits during a complete-game effort.

In the second contest, Wheaton tallied 10 runs over the final two innings while banging out 22 hits, one shy of a seven-year-old school record. The top seven batters in the Lyon order each had multiple-hit games, though the hosts trailed 6-2 midway through two innings. Warren went deep in the first, but DePolito and sophomore Stacey Kelleher (Brockton, MA/Brockton) each drove in runs during the bottom half to give Wheaton a 2-1 edge. Warren's two-run single keyed a five-run second, but MacDonald started an inning-ending double play at third base, and the momentum swung in Wheaton's favor. From that point on, the Lyons scored 12 of the game's final 13 runs.

DePolito and MacDonald each drove in one run during the second inning to make it 6-4 and, after Clark plated an unearned run in the fourth, the flood gates opened the following inning. Down by a 7-4 count, the Blue and White scored six unearned runs with two down. Lachance smacked an RBI single, Kelleher's two-run base hit put Wheaton in front, and Benton added a two-run single. Four more runs scored in the sixth inning, as Lachance and Kelleher each lifted two-run longballs.

Lachance finished 4-for-5 with three runs and three RBI, and her dinger pushed her into a tie for seventh in program history (13). MacDonald was 4-for-4 with three runs, while Kelleher went 3-for-5 with five RBI and three runs. DePolito had a 2-for-3 showing with two RBI, as she became the eighth Lyon with 100 career RBI, and Benton added three hits. Poulton and junior Erika Marini (Pawtucket, RI/Saint Raphael Academy) contributed two hits apiece, while freshman Andrea Bagley (Foxboro, MA/Foxboro) notched the win. Blake went 3-for-4, while Warren was 2-for-2 with three RBI and two walks.

Traft added two hits, and freshman Chelsea Proulx (Franklin, NH/Bishop Brady) took the loss in relief.

Wheaton's tripleheader scheduled for tomorrow with Tufts University and Western Connecticut State University has been postponed. The Lyons will next play on Tuesday against Framingham State College at 3:30 p.m.

This page is maintained by Scott Dietz. Last updated on 4/14/07.
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