Babson Softball Takes Game Two To Earn Split With Wheaton

NORTON, Mass. — Sophomore Samantha Smith (Hillsborough, N.J.) went 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI, while classmate Ali Reilly (New Canaan, Conn.) tossed a complete game to help the visiting Babson College edge Wheaton College, 4-2, in game two of a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) softball doubleheader on Sunday afternoon. The Beavers dropped game one to the Lyons, 9-1, in five innings.

With the split, Babson is now 14-10 overall and 5-5 in conference play, while Wheaton moves to 13-9 overall and 7-3 in the NEWMAC.

Senior Rachel Bullard (Worcester, Mass.) had a hit and scored once, while first-years Annie Quine
(Santa Monica, Calif.) and Ashley Tango (Reading, Mass.) both finished with a hit and an RBI for the Beavers. Reilly (8-7) allowed just two runs on seven hits while striking out two to record her 11th complete game of the year.

After leaving a pair of runners in scoring position in the top of the first, the Green and White took a 1-0 lead on Tango's two-out RBI single to center in the third. Wheaton tied it in the bottom half of the frame, but the Beavers went back in front for good in the fourth when seniors Madison Dinaso (Ardsley, N.Y.) and Maya Lacy (East Mill Creek, Utah) came around on Smith's base hit up the middle to make it 3-1.

Lyons' junior Emily Bouthillette (Lincoln, R.I.) led off the bottom of the fourth with a double and scored when Babson misplayed a sacrifice bunt to cut their deficit to 3-2. The Beavers again left a pair of runners on in the fifth, but tacked on some insurance in the sixth as Smith doubled with one out and scored on Quine's single to right two batters later.

Reilly worked around an error in the sixth before retiring the side in order in the seventh to preserve the split for the Green and White.

Junior Danielle Cimino (Cumberland, Maine) suffered the loss for Wheaton after giving up three runs on five hits over 3.1 innings. Classmate Caroline Fairbanks (Milford, Mass.) went 2-for-3 with a double at the dish for the hosts.

Babson's game-two victory came on the heels of being held to just three hits in the opener. Smith was 1-for-2 with an RBI and run scored, and Lacy went 1-for-2 with a double, but the Beavers were unable to recover after giving up five runs in the first.

Fairbanks cranked a pair of home runs and drove in four, while senior Marissa Timoteo (Jupiter, Fla.) smacked a three-run homer in the first for the Lyons. Classmate Emma Hart (Lincoln, R.I.) also went 3-for-3 with a triple and three runs scored in support of sophomore Allison Cox (Torrance, Calif.), who tossed a complete game to move to 7-2 on the year.

Junior Leslie Moore (Atkinson, N.H.) lasted just 1.1 innings and dropped to 4-2 on the season after giving up eight runs on seven hits for Babson.

Babson returns to action on Monday when it travels to Brandeis for a single game at 4 p.m. Wheaton will head to Bridgewater State for a doubleheader on Tuesday starting at 3:30 p.m.

GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are now 20-44 all-time against Wheaton and have gone 10-6 against the Lyons going back to 2010.
• After going 0-for-4 in Babson's first game at Wellesley on Friday, Smith is 11-for-19 with six doubles, eight RBI and eight runs scored over the last five games.
• Quine now has at least one hit in 11 of the last 13 games going back to the Beavers' win over Norwich on March 18.