Blue Softball Swept By Babson in NEWMAC Home Opener

Alex Berman Photography

WELLESLEY, Mass. -- Visiting Babson College swept to a pair of New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) softball victories over host Wellesley College on Friday afternoon at the Wellesley Outdoor Fields Complex. The Beavers rallied for a 5-2 win in game one before defeating the Blue 10-5 in the nightcap.

Babson improves 12-8 on the season and 3-3 in conference play, dealing the Blue their first conference setbacks of the year to drop Wellesley to 8-8 overall and 4-2 in the NEWMAC.

Game One: Babson 5, Wellesley 2

Junior Anna Pisac (Snohomish, Wash.) hit her conference-leading eighth home run of the season but
Babson rallied from a 2-0 deficit to take a 5-2 win in game one.

Junior Leslie Moore (Atkinson, N.H.) tallied a pair of hits, while scoring a run and recording an RBI for Babson. Seniors Catie Benoit (Williamstown, Mass.) and Rachel Bullard (Worcester, Mass.) each drove in a pair of runs in the top of the sixth inning. Bullard recorded two hits in the game. In the circle, sophomore Ali Reilly (New Canaan, Conn.) struck out eight, walked three and gave up seven hits to improve to a 7-6 on the season.

Senior Carly Bresee (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.) had a game-high three hits for the Blue. Sophomore Julia Warner (Kenmore, Wash.) totaled two hits, while Pisac reached based safely three times thanks to her home run and a pair of walks. Senior Jaclyn Tsang (Manalapan, N.J.) added the second Blue run with a bases loaded walk in the bottom of the first.

Tsang reached base with only one away in the inning, giving the Blue an early lead. However, Reilly managed to escape the opening-inning trouble with back-to-back strikeouts. Pisac's home run gave Wellesley a 2-0 lead after three innings.

Babson got one run back in the top of the fourth inning thanks to an RBI double to left off the bat of Moore. The damage was limited to a run, as Wellesley starter Madeline Bianchi (Lakeville, Mich.) pitched out of the jam to help the Blue maintain a 2-1 edge. Bianchi (6-4) pitched a complete game, surrendering five runs, two earned, on nine hits.

The Wellesley starter worked her way around a one-out single from Bullard in the top of the fifth before the visitors came all the way back with four runs in the top of the sixth. Benoit put Babson ahead for good with her RBI single, before Bullard added insurance with a two-RBI single to left.

Game Two: Babson 10, Wellesley 5

Babson continued to roll in game two, scoring at least one run in the games first five innings to storm to a 10-5 victory.

Sophomore Samantha Smith (Hillborough, N.J.) pounded out four hits and four RBIs while scoring a pair of runs from the leadoff spot. Junior Meaghan Merullo (Winchester, Mass.) added three hits and an RBI and Bullard tallied two more hits for the Beavers in the contest. Moore had two RBIs, on a sacrifice fly and her second home run of the year. Starter Madison Dinaso (Ardsley, N.Y.) scattered 12 hits over seven innings to improve to 2-1 on the year.

Tsang registered a team-high three hits in game two, while Bresee and Warner picked up two more hits, apiece. Warner, junior Ashtyn Coleman (Scottsdale, Ariz.) and first year Sydney Hopper (Newcastle, Wash.) all recorded RBIs for the Blue. Warner, Hopper and Bianchi all pitched for the Blue, with Warner dropping to 2-3 with the result.

Moore opened the scoring with a sacrifice fly in the top of the first. The Blue countered with two runs in the home half of the inning, as Ashtyn Coleman and Warner each beat out infield singles to help the Blue take a 2-1 lead.

The Beavers regained the lead in the top of the second when Smith hit her second consecutive double to open the game, this time scoring Dinaso and first year Josephine Mares (Houston, Texas). Smith would only do more damage in the top of the third inning, capping a five-run Babson rally with her third double of the game. Moore opened the inning with a home run, while Benoit collected an RBI single and Mares drove in a run with an RBI groundout in the frame.

Babson wasn't done, as they added one more run on an Ashley Tango (Reading, Mass.) RBI groundout in the fourth before taking a 10-2 lead on an RBI single from Merullo in the fifth.

The Blue got two runs back in the bottom of the fifth to extend the game to the sixth inning but could manage only one more run in the bottom of the seventh before falling to Babson