Five home runs send Wheaton to twinbill sweep of Endicott

April 21, 2007

NORTON, MA- In a battle of regionally-ranked softball teams, Wheaton College slugged five home runs during a non-conference doubleheader sweep of Endicott College on Saturday at Clark Field, as the Lyons won twice in five innings, 8-0 and 10-2. The 23-13 Blue and White, which is sixth in the NCAA New England standings, snapped the seventh-ranked Gulls' 14-game winning streak, as Endicott slid to 21-7.

Junior Jodi Moynagh (Worcester, MA/Holy Name Central Catholic) spun a two-hit shutout in the opener. After yielding a leadoff single in the first to junior Paula McGinn (Lynn, MA/Lynn Classical), Moynagh set down the next 10 batters until a one-out base hit in the fourth, which sparked an Endicott rally. With the Lyons nursing a 1-0 edge and Gulls on first and second, Moynagh induced a groundout before fanning the final batter.

Endicott sophomore Jackie Collier (Swampscott, MA/Bishop Fenwick) matched Moynagh's performance early on, as she set down the first seven Lyons before junior Meredith Gorton (Warwick, NY/Warwick Valley) walked with one down in the third inning. Senior Nicole Lachance (Rochester, NH/Spaulding) broke the stalemate by shooting a two-out triple down the right field line to plate Gorton.

In the fourth inning, the Lyons broke the game open by scoring five runs, as the first five batters reached on hits. Sophomore Stacey Kelleher (Brockton, MA/Brockton) led off with a double before senior Jessica DePolito (Taunton, MA/Coyle and Cassidy) drove her 11th home run of the season to right center. Sophomore Brady Benton (Concord, NH/Concord) smacked an RBI single, and freshman Merry MacDonald's (Braintree, MA/Braintree) two-run base hit made it 6-0. In the fifth inning, Benton hit a two-out solo home run before MacDonald's bloop RBI single pushed the Lyons to an eight-run cushion.

MacDonald finished 2-for-2 with three RBI, while Benton was 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBI. Junior Erika Marini (Pawtucket, RI/Saint Raphael Academy) had two hits and scored twice, while Gorton and junior Audrey Poulton (Charlestown, RI/Chariho Regional) also doubled. Six of the Lyons' 11 hits went for extra bases. Moynagh struck out two during her third shutout of the year, while Collier gave up seven runs on eight hits.

The first seven Lyons reached and scored during the first inning of game two, as six picked up hits, including three slugging home runs. Lachance poked an opposite-field solo shot on the first pitch of the frame for her ninth home run this spring, Kelleher drove an RBI single up the middle to make it 2-0, and DePolito followed by launching her 12th dinger. Marini capped the output with a three-run blast into left center field that made it 7-0. Benton missed a grand slam by the slimmest of margins the following inning, as her sacrifice fly plated a run, while Wheaton's ninth run scored on an error during the play. Poulton then came home on a two-out error in the fourth.

Endicott's most fruitful threat came in the fifth, as sophomore Meghan Sargent (Salisbury, MA/Triton Regional) hit an RBI double before classmate Casey Shanley's (Billerica, MA/Billerica) sacrifice fly made it 10-2. However, freshman hurler Andrea Bagley (Foxboro, MA/Foxboro) induced a lineout to end the contest.

Bagley yielded only the fifth-inning runs while fanning two. Kelleher went 3-for-3 with two runs, while DePolito had two hits, two runs and two RBI, moving into third on the program's career home runs list (22) and becoming the third Lyon with a dozen dingers in a season. Lachance and Poulton each had two hits, while Poulton scored twice. Wheaton has 35 home runs after its five-dinger outburst, and the Lyons are just three shy of a program mark set in 52 games in 1997. Sophomore Danielle Sargent (Sabattus, ME/Oak Hill) went 2-for-3 with a double for Endicott, while freshman Maria Magine (Lockport, NY/Lockport) suffered the loss after allowing nine runs.

Wheaton returns to action tomorrow with a home twinbill against Tufts University at 12:00 p.m.

This page is maintained by Scott Dietz. Last updated on 4/21/07.
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