Softball Falls 11-2 (Five Innings) to Middlebury in Season Opener

CLERMONT, Fla. – The Wellesley College softball team fell 11-2 in five innings to Middlebury College in the 2022 season opener on Saturday at Hancock Park.

Senior Hayley Moniz (Westfield, Mass.) made the first start for the Blue in two years and allowed nine earned runs and struck out three. Classmate Marisa Hensch (Carlsbad, Calif.) went 3-for-3 and scored a run to lead Wellesley offensively. Leadoff hitter Ingrid Hsu (San Ramon, Calif.) went 1-for-3 and drove in a run.

The Blue got on the board in the top half of the first inning after Moniz reached on an error by the Middlebury shortstop and Hensch came around to score. The Panthers would respond in the bottom of the first, tacking on three runs. Senior Noelle Ruschil (Katonah, N.Y.) doubled to left center to drive in two and Abby Santis (Hopkinton, N.H.) followed with a sacrifice fly to center field. In the bottom of the second, Ruschil sent a shot over the left field wall and gave Middlebury a 5-1 lead. The Blue had a prime opportunity to respond in the top of the third with the bases loaded and just one out and sophomore Julz Vargas (Los Angeles, Calif.) at the plate. Vargas hit a hard grounder up the middle that was swallowed by the shortstop Tori Papaleo (Yonkers, N.Y.) and turned into an inning ending double play.

Middlebury kept the momentum and tacked on six more runs in the bottom of the third. The big hit came from Sophie Bolinger (Swarthmore, Penn.) in a bases clearing double. The Blue got one back in the top half of the following inning after Hsu hit a single up the middle to score Holly Chin (Newton, Mass.). The Panthers then held Wellesley to just one more hit and closed out the game by a score of 11-2 in five innings.

Wellesley will play tomorrow afternoon against Trinity (Conn.) at 1:30 PM and again versus Middlebury at 4:00 PM from the Legends Way Ballparks in Clermont.