Blue Softball Opens Season with Split in Florida

CLERMONT, Florida -- The Wellesley College softball team opened the 2013 season with a split at the National Training Center in Clermont, Florida. The Blue opened the day with a 5-0 win over Western New England and then dropped the nightcap, 10-9, to Wesleyan University.

Against Western New England, Wellesley's Sarah Schwartzmeyer hurled a four-hit shutout, picking up her first win of the season. The senior allowed no runs on just four hits, with four strikeouts and a walk.

Wellesley scored in the bottom of the first, as a single from sophomore Maria LaBouyer scored classmate Mariah Philips. The one-run lead held with Schwartzmeyer on the mound, but the Blue added four insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth to cement the victory. 

LaBouyer and senior Samantha Spiga each picked up two hits to lead the Blue offense. LaBouyer went 2-4 with a double and an RBI, while Spiga finished the game 2-3. Junior Jayne Ellis contributed an RBI double, while senior Lauren Goldfarb, senior Kimberly Cabral and Philips also drove in runs.

In their second game of the day, the Blue piled on 12 hits but could not overcome a disastrous day in the field, as the team picked up six total errors.

First-year Jaclyn Tsang started the Blue off right, recording a triple and a homerun in her first two at-bats of the day. Despite Tsang's heroics, Wellesley fell behind early, as Wesleyan led 5-3 after four innings.

The Blue battled back, scoring solo runs in the fifth and the sixth inning to knot the game at 5-5. However, Wesleyan put up a three-run bottom of the sixth to regain an 8-5 advantage.

Wellesley seemed to take control in the top half of the seventh, scoring four runs to go up, 9-8. The Blue were aided by an RBI walk from Tsang, an RBI groundout from Goldfarb and a single from Spiga that plated two.

The Blue got the first out of the seventh before a triple and three straight singles allowed Wesleyan to tie the game and finally win it, 10-9.

Tsang led the Blue attack, going 2-3 with a triple, a homerun, two RBI and three runs scored. LaBouyer, Goldfarb and Cabral all added two hits each, while Spiga drove in a pair. Wrapping up the Blue offense, Goldfarb, first-year Carly Bresee, Phillips, and senior Mara Blesoff each added solo RBI.

In the circle for the Blue, Goldfarb got the start, throwing two innings, allowing four runs (one earned), on three hits with two strikeouts and three walks. Junior Lindsay Johnson came on in relief, throwing four and a third, allowing six runs (three earned), on six hits, with two strikeouts and three walks.

Wellesley is back at it again tomorrow, playing Manchester University at 5:00pm and Wisconsin Eau Claire at 7:00pm. Both games will take place at the National Training Center main complex.