WPI Powers Past Blue Softball on Senior Day

WELLESLEY, Mass. – Visiting WPI put up eight runs in back-to-back games to sweep Wellesley College softball in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) doubleheader on Saturday afternoon. The Engineers took game one 8-0, in five innings, and game two 8-3. 

The Engineers improve to 25-5 with their fourth win in a row and their 14th in their last 15 games. WPI is also now 13-1 in the NEWMAC. Wellesley dips back below .500 following today's action, at 12-14 overall and 6-8 in conference.

Wellesley celebrated Senior Day at today's contest, recognizing seniors Carly Bresee (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.) and Jaclyn Tsang (Manalapan, N.J.) prior to the game. Tsang also collected the 100th hit of her Wellesley career in game two.

Game One: WPI 8, Wellesley 0 (5 innings)

WPI powered past the Blue in game one, blasting three home runs to take an 8-0 final in five innings.

Sophomore Ama Biney (Worcester, Mass.) and first year Caraline Wood (Averill Park, N.Y.) tied for game-high honors with three RBIs apiece. Both players hit second inning home runs, with Biney hitting a three-run shot for her fifth of the year before Wood followed with a two-run blast later in the inning. Wood, who also added an RBI double in the first inning, now has three home runs on the season. Senior Jacquelyne DiTroia (Andover, Mass.) hit the third WPI home run, her first in 308 career at-bats.

In the circle, WPI senior Clare Doolin (Newton, Mass.) recorded five strikeouts and one walk in a five inning shutout. Doolin surrendered just three hits in the contest, to sophomores Amanda Manning (Durham, Calif.) and Zein Aburish (Alexandria, Va.) and junior Kendra Coleman (Scottsdale, Ariz.), to improve to 11-1 on the year. For Wellesley, sophomore Madeline Bianchi (Lakeville, Minn.) took the loss to drop to 9-7 on the season.

WPI hit back-to-back-to-back doubles with one out in the top of the first inning to take a 2-0 lead. Biney and Wood each went yard to stretch the advantage to 7-0 after two innings, before DiTroia scored the eighth WPI run with a solo blast in the third. With the Blue unable to get on the board after five innings, the Engineers took the 8-0 final. 

Game Two: WPI 8, Wellesley 3

Wood and WPI continued to roll in game two, as the first year slugger recorded her fourth RBI on the day en route to an 8-3 victory.

Wood had a game-high three hits in the contest, driving home Biney with an RBI single in the top of the second inning. Junior Kristin Gallagher (Coventry, R.I.), sophomore Nina Murphy-Cook (Roseville, Calif.) and first year Renee LeClaire (Merrimack, N.H.) each recorded two hits, with Gallagher adding a pair of RBIs.

The Blue scored once in the fourth and twice in the fifth, as juniors Ashtyn Coleman (Scottsdale, Ariz.) and Anna Pisac (Snohomish, Wash.) put together back to back RBI hits in the fifth inning. Ashtyn Coleman also scored a run and had a team-high two hits in the game. Bresee and Tsang scored the remaining Wellesley runs, while Tsang also collected the 100th hit of her collegiate career. Wellesley sophomore Julia Warner (Kenmore, Wash.) surrendered eight runs, six earned, to drop to 3-6 on the year.

WPI once again put up a crooked number in the top of the first, scoring four runs on four hits and an error. Gallagher opened the scoring with a two-out RBI single to center. First year Kylie Juarez (Elk Grove, Calif.) singled to score the second WPI run, before the final two runs scored on a dropped pop-up that would have been the final out of the inning.

Wood made the score 5-0 in the second inning and Gallagher gave WPI a 6-0 lead with a sacrifice fly in the top of the fourth inning before the Blue got on the board thanks to a WPI miscue in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Pisac and Ashtyn Coleman brought the Blue back to within three in the bottom of the fifth, but WPI junior Caroline Medino (Pompton Lakes, N.J.) came on to shut down the rally with a strikeout of Tsang to end the inning. Medino earned her fourth save of the season in game two, pitching 2.1 innings of scoreless relief. WPI starter Casey Arpin (Uxbridge, Mass.) went 4.2 innings to improve to 5-0 on the year.

WPI got two runs back in the top of the sixth inning, scoring when junior Hope Shevchuk (Burlington, Conn.) was hit by pitch with the bases loaded and on a fielder's choice RBI by DiTroia, to make the score 8-3.

Both teams will play non-conference contests this week, with Wellesley set to host Salve Regina on Wednesday, April 20, at 3:00 PM. WPI will welcome UMass Dartmouth for a Patriots' Day doubleheader on Monday, April 18, at noon.