Wellesley Softball Powers Past Babson In Game Two To Earn Doubleheader Split

WELLESLEY, Mass. – Seniors Anna Pisac (Snohomish, Wash.) and Ashtyn Coleman (Scottsdale, Ariz.) both homered in game two as Wellesley College softball rallied to earn a split with cross-town rival Babson College in a New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) doubleheader on Friday afternoon at the Wellesley Fields Complex. The Beavers earned a 7-0 shutout in game one, before Wellesley held off a late Babson rally to win game two, 3-2. Babson was the home team in both games that were originally scheduled to be played in Babson Park but relocated due to field conditions. 

The Blue have now split their first two NEWMAC doubleheaders of the season to improve to 7-4 overall and 2-2 in league play. Babson won the team's third-straight game in game one, before dropping the second to move to 12-8 overall and 4-4 in conference. 

Game One: Babson 7, Wellesley 0

Babson junior Ali Reilly (New Canaan, Conn.) scattered six hits over seven shutout innings and struck out two to lead Babson to a 7-0 victory in the opener.

Senior Leslie Moore (Atkinson, N.H., sophomores Josephine Mares (Houston, Texas), Annie Quine (Santa Monica, Calif.), and Ashley Tango (Reading, Mass.), and first year Victoria Casey (Emerson, N.J.) each tallied a pair of hits in the opener for the Beavers, who had 13 as a squad. Casey also totaled a game-high two RBIs, finishing 2-for-3 with a double. She was one of three Babson players with an extra base hit, as Moore and Tango also smacked doubles.

Wellesley first year Autumn Brown (Marshfield, Mass.) reached base on a pair of trips to the plate, walking in the top of the fourth inning and recording a single to leadoff the top of the sixth, but the Blue could not string anything together offensively in the opener and failed to register more than one hit in any inning. Starting pitcher Madeline Bianchi (Lakeville, Minn.) pitched a complete game, striking out four and surrendering seven runs, four earned, to drop to 3-3 on the season. 

A single from Casey in the bottom of the second scored the first run of the game, driving in Moore before the inning ended when Casey was thrown out trying to advance to second. The Beavers stretched out their lead in the fourth, scoring four runs on seven hits and a pair of Wellesley errors. Moore, Casey and first year Jacqueline Paul (Burlington, N.J.) all picked-up RBIs in the inning to increase the Babson lead to 5-0.

A fielder's choice RBI from junior Samantha Smith (Hillsborough, N.J.) in the sixth made the score 6-0, before Quine singled home Smith to give Babson a 7-0 edge later in the frame. That was all the help that Reilly would need, as she worked around a two-out double from Ashtyn Coleman in the seventh to secure her fifth win (5-4) of the season. 

Game Two: Wellesley 3, Babson 2

Wellesley got out to a 3-0 lead in game two before holding off a Babson rally in the bottom of the seventh to pick-up the split with a 3-2 victory.

Wellesley starter Sydney Hopper (Newcastle, Wash.) pitched six shutout innings, before getting tagged with a pair of runs when Quine homered in the bottom of the seventh inning for the Beavers. Pisac was 1-for-1 at the plate, delivering two RBIs, the first coming on a solo shot in the top of the fifth and the second with a sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh. Junior Amanda Manning (Chico, Calif.) had a team-high two hits, including a double, for the Blue and scored a run. 

Quine drove in the only Babson runs of the game, going 2-for-4 in game two with a run scored. Moore added three more hits in game two to drive her team-leading total to 23 on the season. Senior Meaghan Merullo (Winchester, Mass.) also had three base hits for the Beavers. In the circle, Babson starter Brooke Stock (For Lauderdale, Fla.) went the distance, giving up seven hits, three runs and four walks, while striking out four. 

Ashtyn Coleman got Wellesley out to an early lead in game two, lifting her first homerun of the year, and the eleventh of her Wellesley career, over the right center field fence to make the score 1-0 in the top of the third inning. Pisac made the score 2-0 with her solo shot in the top of the fifth and 3-0 when she scored Manning with a sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh. 

Pisac's second RBI of the day turned out to be a big one, as Babson got two runs back in the bottom of the seventh. After Hopper pitched out of a bases loaded jam in the bottom of the sixth inning, she walked the lead-off batter before allowing Smith to take her place on the bases via a fielder's choice. With Smith on first, Quine lined a home run over the left field fencer to the left of the scoreboard to make it a one-run game. Moore then singled to center, ending the day for Hopper when junior Julia Warner (Kenmore, Wash.) came on in relief. Warner got the next two batters to fly out to end the contest.

Wellesley will host Smith in a NEWMAC doubleheader tomorrow, April 8, at 12:00 PM. Babson will also continue league play tomorrow at 12:00 PM when they travel to Coast Guard.