Wellesley Splits With Wheaton (4/18/2008)

With their NEWMAC split against Wheaton College on Friday afternoon, the Wellesley Blue were able to capture one of the two top positions in NEWMAC rankings. The split places Wellesley at 11-3 in the Conference, 22-6-1 overall, and a 21st ranking by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association. Wheaton finished with a 12-4 NEWMAC record and 28-10 overall.

Wellesley earned the victory in Game 1 after nine innings of play. The final score was 6-2. The game remained scoreless until the fourth inning when the Blue were able to score two runs as a result of a single, a walk, a Sophomore, Shawna McCreadie RBI double, and a Senior, Jenna Harvey, RBI on a sacrifice fly. Harvey allowed just two hits in the first five innings, but Wheaton's bats tied the game in the sixth inning.

With the game knotted at two runs apiece, Wellesley threatened to score in the top of the eighth inning but in an attempt to score the go-ahead run, Wellesley was thrown out at the plate. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Wheaton, too, threatened to score and take the game, but with two runners on base and two outs, the Lyons were unable to plate their runner. As the game moved into the ninth inning, Sophomore, Megan Wood, broke the tie with an RBI double, and a Harvey blast locked the game at 6-4. Wheaton was unable to score in the bottom of the ninth inning, despite loading their bases. For the game, Wood went 3-for-3 on two doubles and scored two runs. Harvey amassed two-thirds of Wellesley's scoring output with four RBIs. Harvey went two-for-two in Game 1. On the mound, she allowed two unearned runs over nine innings, walked three batters, and chalked up fourteen strikeouts.

Wellesley also scored first in Game 2. Throughout the first four innings, however, Wheaton would only allow one hit and held on to a 4-1 lead. The Blue added another run in the top of the seventh off of a couple of Lyon errors and two singles to notch the game at 4-2. A sharp defensive play by Wheaton helped to keep the score locked at game-ending 4-2. Offensively, First-Year, Alison Davis, swung a 3-for-4 bat. Junior, Beej Grundlock, suffered only her second loss of the season. Grundlock allowed two runs and seven hits and accumulated three strikeouts.