Softball 4/15/2010 12:00:00 AM

Liska Throws No-Hitter As Babson Softball Takes Two From Wellesley

Liska tossed a gem in the opener, throwing the eighth shutout and first no-hitter of her career, recording nine strikeouts without a walking a batter. The only baserunner the senior allowed was a hit batter in the fourth inning, who was later thrown out at the plate with a bullet from left-fielder Jessica Pashos (Winchester, MA) erasing Wellesley's lone opportunity to score. Pashos also provided solid defense in the 7th inning, making a diving catch off of a high pop-up at the edge of the infield dirt to preserve Liska's no-hitter.

Babson struck for three runs in the first inning, taking advantage of three Wellesley errors and a solo homerun from Nicole Latini (East Bridgewater, MA), her second round-tripper of the season. The Beavers also added two each in the fourth and fifth innings, backed by a two-run homerun from Annie Dursema (Yarmouth, ME), an RBI double from Pashos and a sac-fly from Latini to set the final to 7-0 in favor of the visitors.

Babson collected six total hits in game one, with Latini and Duresma each collecting two RBI. Wellesley's Sarah Schwartzmeyer (Elba, NY) took the loss, her first of the season, after a four-inning start. The first-year allowed seven runs, five earned, while walking three and striking out seven. Senior Megan Wood (Jacksonville, FL) came on in relief for the Blue, shutting down the Babson offense, allowing just one hit in three innings of work.

Wellesley started the scoring early in game two as Jessie Haladyna (St. John's, FL) led off the bottom of the first with a single deep into the hole at shortstop, stole second and then scored on a dropped pop fly in the Babson infield. The Blue increased the lead to 2-0 in the bottom of the second off of an RBI double from Lauren Goldfarb (Albuquerque, NM).

Babson broke through on the scoreboard in a big way in the fourth inning, putting up eight runs off of three hits, also capitalizing on three Wellesley errors. The big hits in the rally came from Jaclyn Enos (Taunton, MA) who poked an RBI double into left field and later in the inning, a huge three run homerun from Pashos was the back-breaker, giving Babson an 8-2 advantage.

Wellesley climbed back into the game, as Cebrian blasted a two-run homerun in the fourth and followed it up with a solo shot in the fifth. The second baseman's homers sandwiched a two-RBI triple from Wood, setting the score to 8-7, still in favor of the Beavers.

Babson added an insurance run in the top of the sixth off of a single from Lisa Wojnar (Bellaire, TX) that scored Latini. Wellesley countered with one in the bottom of the sixth, as Samantha Spiga (Perth Amboy, NJ) knocked home Wood, to make it 9-8. However, Babson reliever Megan Brain (Pompton Plains, NJ) did not allow another Wellesley hit, as the Beavers completed the sweep.

Wojnar led Babson in game two, going two-for-two with an RBI. Pashos drove in three runs for the visitors while Enos added a pair of RBI. In the circle, Liska made the start, throwing 3.2 innings, allowing six runs (five earned) on eight hits while striking out two and walking two. Brain was solid in relief, throwing 3.1 innings, allowing two runs off of three hits with two strikeouts and two walks.

For Wellesley, Cebrian led the offense with a three-hit day, while also driving in three runs off of her first career two-homerun game. Suffering the loss, Goldfarb threw all seven innings, allowing eight hits, nine runs (six earned), while striking out five and walking nine.

Babson continues its NEWMAC slate with a pair against Clark tomorrow at home beginning at 3:00pm. Wellesley will host Smith on Saturday in a conference doubleheader beginning at 12:00pm.

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