Worcester, MA --- Senior pitcher Meghan Kelly
(Burlington, MA) earned a win and a save as WPI swept visiting
Babson in NEWMAC softball action Friday afternoon by scores of 4-2
and 6-3. With the wins, WPI improves to 16-8 overall and 8-2
in NEWMAC action. Babson falls to 17-12-1 on the season and
6-4 in conference play.
Kelly scattered eight hits in the opener, yielding just one
earned run while fanning six. Babson had already pushed a run
across in the third to tie the game at 2-1 and had runners on
second and third with no outs when Kelly responded with a pair of
strikeouts and a harmless inning-ending grounder.
The Engineers countered in the bottom of the third with two runs
following a two-out throwing error. Shannon
O'Connell (Worcester, MA) scored the second run as she
hustled all the way around from first base on the play.
O'Connell provided the final heroics in the seventh inning, when,
with the tying runs on base with two outs, she got a perfect hop on
a would-be base hit to right field and threw the batter out at
first to end the game.
Kelly improved to 7-2 with the victory. Kristen
Gervais (Millbury, MA) tallied an RBI double in the first
while Briana Dougherty (Woburn, MA) added a run-producing single in
the second. Jen Richards (Hampstead, NH)
notched a pair of hits for the Engineers.
Jess Byrn (Safety Harbor, FL) picked up the
loss in the opener for the Beavers. She allowed just two
earned runs while notching three strikeouts. Sarah
Rubino (Westport, MA) registered an RBI single for Babson
in the second while Courtney Thurston (Taunton,
MA) smashed an RBI double down the left field line in the
third.
WPI used the long ball to jump out to a 3-0 advantage in the
first inning of the nightcap. Nicole Maglione
(Charlton, MA) led off the bottom of the first with her tenth homer
of the season before Sara Migdal (Hagaman, NY)
launched a two-run blast three batters later.
Freshman Kelly Johnson (Buxton, ME) improved to
5-1 by tossing the first 4 2/3 innings. Kelly came in to
record the final seven outs to earn her third save of the
season. Freshman Danielle Liska (Seymour, CT) allowed just
one earned run over the final six innings for the Beavers while
dropping to 7-4.
Andrea Cartullo (Holbrook, MA) picked up a pair
of RBI in the nightcap for Babson. She registered two hits in
both contests. Jess Cohen (Pittsford, NY)
and Byrn both collected a pair of hits in the second game for the
Beavers while WPI's Nicole DeCampo (Stoneham, MA)
collected three hits.
Both teams are scheduled to return to action on Saturday with
doubleheaders at noon. WPI will travel to Springfield while
Babson hosts Coast Guard.
