NORTON, Mass. – Wellesley College softball dropped both halves of its NEWMAC doubleheader at Wheaton College on Sunday at Clark Softball Field. The Blue (15-16-1 Overall, 8-10 NEWMAC) never scored in a 2-0 opening game before the Lyons (24-10 Overall, 9-7 NEWMAC) came back to win game two in extra innings, 4-3.

Game 1 | Wheaton 2, Wellesley 0 | Final

Wheaton sophomore Sophia De La Rosa (Middle Village, N.Y.) earned a sixth shutout of the season with seven innings of none in the circle for the Lyons. De La Rosa only allowed two hits and two walks while fanning a pair.

Back to back doubles in the bottom of the third gave Wheaton a pair of runs. After putting runners on first and second, sophomore Taylor Barry (Hadley, Mass.) opened the scoring with an RBI double. Barry then scored on a double to center field from classmate Emma Boucher (Derry, N.H.). Wellesley shortstop Andrea Delgado (Miami, Fla.) made a sharp fielding play to snuff out a potential run down at the plate from the Lyons to keep the game at 2-0.

The two runs would prove to be all of the offense that Wheaton needed. Wellesley was unable to get a runner past second base, with De La Rosa ending the contest with a 1-2-3 top of the seventh.

Sophomore Sarah Wicker (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.) pitched all six innings for the Blue, punching out seven while allowing 10 baserunners. Wicker stranded four runners on base and worked out of trouble on a couple occasions.

Game 2 | Wheaton 4, Wellesley 3 | Final (8 Inn.)

Despite trailing 3-0 for most of the game, Wheaton came back in the bottom of the seventh before winning in extra innings to take the second half of the doubleheader. Junior Amber Arcand (Millville, Mass.) pitched all eight innings for the hosts, allowing six hits and three unearned runs with one strikeout. Arcand also hit the game-winning double to end the game.

Wellesley picked up its first run of the day in the half of the third. First-year Ruijia Yang (Berwyn, Pa.) cracked a double to right center to open the inning. Yang advanced to third on a grounder before coming across on a ground out to short from sophomore Alena Mulhern (Kingston, Mass.). The run was Yang's 20th of the season.

Wheaton put runners on the corners in the bottom of the third but Wicker struck out Barry swinging to keep the hosts off the board. Wicker made an offensive impact in the top of the fourth,  scoring Wellesley's second run when Yang singled to left field. 

The Lyons threatened to break the game open in the fifth. A single was followed by two walks with only one. A high fly was caught by senior Charis Chung (San Gabriel, Calif.), who doubled off the runner at second with a high IQ throw.

Yang reached on a two-base throwing error to open the seventh. After taking third on a wild pitch, sophomore Giana Jones (Fairfield, Calif.) hit a sacrifice fly to center that plated Yang to increase the Blue's lead to 3-0.

The hosts refused to go away quietly. Down to its final at-bats, Wheaton started the bottom of the seventh with a double down the left line from junior Maggie Caron (Boxford, Mass.) and a single from first-year Kathryn Copperthite (Branford, Conn.). Caron came in on a sacrifice fly from senior Juliette Zito (Woodbridge, Conn.), making it 3-1. Senior Grace DiBacco (Selkirk, N.Y.) made it 3-2 with an RBI double that made it to the fence.

The Blue put Wicker back into the circle but sophomore Ella Molinari (Grafton, Mass.) cracked a single to drive in DiBacco and knot the game up at 3-3. Wicker settled in and forced a pair of pop outs to send the game to extra innings.

Despite putting runners on second and third in the top of the eight, the Blue were unable to add to its total. After eight innings of pitching, Arcand decided to help her own cause in the bottom of the eighth with a walk-off double to right to bring in Boucher and complete the comeback victory.

Wicker tossed four innings, taking the loss despite allowing only one unearned run with four k's for the visitors. Senior Lauren Young (Fresno, Calif.) pitched three innings of relief, allowing two runs, six baserunners and striking out one. Sophomore Jill Colgan (Las Vegas, Nev.) got one out in the circle. 

Both teams are back in action at 3 & 5 PM on Friday, May 2. The Blue welcome Emerson College while Wheaton stays home against WPI.