Merrick launches grand slam in game-one win, Wheaton splits at Babson

April 3, 2008

BABSON PARK, MA- Freshman Rachel Merrick (Methuen, MA/Central Catholic) slugged an eighth-inning grand slam during the Wheaton College softball team's 8-2 game-one victory over Babson College before the Beavers rallied for a 4-2 win in the second contest to salvage a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) doubleheader split on Thursday at Alumni Field. The Lyons are now 18-6 overall and 4-2 in the league, while Babson moves to 13-9 and 2-2.

Merrick's dinger capped a six-run eighth inning. With the bases loaded and no one out, freshman Nicole DeRosa (Greenwich, CT/Greenwich Academy) lofted a sacrifice fly to give Wheaton a 3-2 edge, and classmate Kristen Hunt (Milford, CT/Jonathan Law) later followed with an RBI walk. Merrick came to the plate next, and she slammed an 0-1 pitch beyond the left field fence for her first collegiate home run.

Prior to the eighth inning, when Wheaton scored its six runs on four hits, the Lyons had two runs on seven hits and needed some seventh-inning heroics to force extra frames. With her team trailing 1-0, junior Stacey Kelleher (Brockton, MA/Brockton) homered to right field leading off the seventh, and Hunt followed with a triple to center field before Merrick singled her home on the next pitch.

In the bottom half, Babson knotted the game at two on senior Jess Cohen's (Pittsford, NY/Pittsford Sutherland) leadoff home run. The Beavers then advanced the potential winning run to third base with one out, but sophomore reliever Andrea Bagley (Foxboro, MA/Foxboro) retired both of the batters she faced to end the threat.

Senior starting pitcher Jess Byrn (Safety Harbor, FL/Countryside) hit an RBI double in the third to give Babson a 1-0 lead before the Lyons failed to cash in on a golden opportunity in the fifth. Kelleher, Hunt and Merrick started the frame with consecutive singles, but Wheaton was unable to score.

Merrick led Wheaton's offense by going 3-for-4 with five RBI, while Hunt and Kelleher were 2-for-3 with two runs apiece. Senior Audrey Poulton (Charlestown, RI/Chariho Regional) added a pair of hits. Bagley earned the win in relief, retiring five of the six batters she faced. Senior Jodi Moynagh (Worcester, MA/Holy Name Central Catholic) tossed the first 6.1 innings, yielding two runs on four hits while fanning three. Cohen finished with two of Babson's four hits, while Byrn suffered the loss after yielding seven earned runs on nine hits with four strikeouts and three walks in 7.1-plus innings.

Babson put two on with one out in the first inning of game two before leaving the bases loaded, stranded a runner at third in the second and left two more on in the third before the Lyons broke through with two runs in the fourth. Senior Erika Marini (Pawtucket, RI/Saint Raphael Academy) singled and stole second before scoring on Kelleher's double, and Merrick later brought Kelleher home on a groundout.

The Beavers quickly regrouped in the bottom half, plating four runs on three hits and two errors. Byrn came through with an RBI single with one down, and two more runs scored on a pair of errors during the play to give Babson a 3-2 lead. The fourth run came across on Cohen's two-out single. Wheaton had runners at the corners with one out in the sixth but came away empty during the final threat for either team.

Marini and junior Lynn Cotto (Brookfield, CT/Brookfield) had two hits apiece for the Lyons, while Bagley suffered the loss after yielding only two earned runs on eight hits in five-plus innings, striking out four and walking four. Byrn was 3-for-4, while sophomore Danielle Liska (Seymour, CT/Seymour) yielded two runs on five hits in four innings for the win. Freshman Caroline Barr (Wilmington, MA/Austin Prep) earned the save.

Wheaton completed an eight-game road swing today, as the Lyons host a pair of NEWMAC twinbills this weekend. On Saturday, the Blue and White takes on Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) beginning at 12:00 p.m.

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