Softball Defeats No. 5 Wis-Whitewater, Falls to Middlebury on Day Two in Florida

CLERMONT, Fla. -- Wellesley College softball scored seven runs in the third inning before hanging on for an 8-6 victory over No. 5 Wisconsin-Whitewater in their first game on Sunday morning at the National Training Center Spring Games. In game two, Middlebury College scored the deciding run in the top of the seventh inning, rallying for a 4-3 victory. After two days in Florida, Wellesley softball currently sits at 2-2 overall. 

Wellesley 8, No. 5 Wis.-Whitewater 6

Carly Bresee scored the first of seven Wellesley runs in the third inning on a Maria LaBouyer single after opening the inning with a leadoff single. LaBoyer would then make her way to third as the Blue loaded the bases when Anna Pisac was hit by a pitch and Emilyrose Havrilla walked.

Wis.-Whitewater starter Kelynn Sporer picked up a strikeout to leave the Blue with the bases loaded and two outs in the inning before Mariah Philips stepped into the box and lifted a flare into left field to score LaBouyer and increase the Blue lead to 2-0. Phillips would later tack on the final Wellesley run in the top of the fourth with a single up the middle to score Havrilla.

A bases loaded walk to Abby Casey pushed across the third run of the inning before Jaclyn Tsang delivered a two-RBI single through the right side of the infield to score Phillips and Havrilla and end the day for Sporer.

Bresee would then took advantage of her second at-bat in the inning to drive home Tsang with a single to left before first year Amanda Manning sent another single out to left to score Tsang.

The Warhawks got four runs back in the bottom of the third inning as Jo Jablonski and Amy Ricci combined for back-to-back home runs over the centerfield fence, with Jablonski delivering a three-run blast. Wis.-Whitewater would also score a pair in the bottom of the fourth thanks to a Wellesley error.

Neither team would add a run after the fourth inning, as Wellesley first year Julia Warner came on in the bottom of the fifth inning to close out the win for classmate Madeline Bianchi (2-0).

Middlebury 4, Wellesley 3

In game two, the Blue jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning, scoring the first run when Pisac scored on a Phillips grounder back to the pitcher. An error on a play down the third base line then allowed Kendra Coleman to score the second run.

Wellesley's 2-0 advantage held until the top of the fifth inning when Middlebury got a run back thanks to a Wellesley error. The Blue countered quickly in the bottom of the fifth inning, as LaBouyer lifted a sacrifice fly into right field to bring home Bresse after she had reached with a base hit to open the inning.

The Panthers tied the contest in the top of the sixth inning before scoring the winning run in the top of the seventh. Sarah Freyre and Siobhan O'Sullivan delivered back-to-back singles in the top of the sixth to knot the score at 3-3 before Erin Giles drove home the deciding run in the seventh with an RBI single through the right side.

Wellesley will play two more games tomorrow at the National Training Center. The Blue battle North Central (Ill.) at 3:00 PM before taking on Kalamazoo at 5:00 PM.