CLERMONT, Fla. – Wellesley College softball split a pair of matchups at THE Spring Games on Tuesday. Junior Sarah Wicker (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.) twirled a one-hit shutout in a 6-0 win over Wesleyan University in the second game. Earlier in the day, the Blue (2-1) fought hard in a 5-2 setback to No. 14 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.
Wicker struck out eight batters across seven clean innings, including a 200th career strikeout. Wicker becomes just the ninth student-athlete in Blue program history to reach the mark.
Game 1 | Wis.-Whitewater 5, Wellesley 2 | Final
The Warhawks (6-3) and Blue battled it out in a high-level duel on the stadium field at Legends Way.
Wellesley first-year Lauren Seyller (South Elgin, Ill.) went 5.2 innings in a first career start. While coming away with the loss, Seyller held Wis.-Whitewater to four runs (three earned), while striking out a pair and keeping the Blue in arms reach of its ranked foe. Junior Jillian Colgan (Las Vegas, Nev.) threw a scoreless inning and a third in relief with a k.
First-year Kaitlyn Marsh (Des Plaines, Ill.) tossed two scoreless innings to start for the purple and gray before junior Madi DeBennette (Wadsworth, Ill.) allowed two runs over five innings of work to earn the victory in the circle.
The Warhawks scored a run in the opening half inning when an up the middle single from first-year Grace Grabowy (Arlington Heights, Ill.) allowed a runner to score.
Wis.-Whitewater doubled in the lead in the third. This time it was Grabowy crossing the plate when teammate Dani Peshia (Newark, Ill.) slapped a double down the left field line.
The Blue loaded the bags in the bottom of the second before Marsh struck out back-to-back batters to escape the jam without surrendering any runs.
Wellesley chipped away at the deficit with a run in the third and fourth inning to tie the score up at 2-2. First-year Brooklyn Awad (Monclair, N.J.) singled in junior Alena Mulhern (Kingston, Mass.) in the third. A hit to center by senior Andrea Delgado (Miami, Fla.) brought in first-year Sophia Fredericks (Chicago, Ill.) in the fourth.
A deep triple that hit the fence from Warhawks senior Emma Giese (Kenosha, Wis.) made it 4-2 in the top of the fifth. The purple and gray added one more run in the sixth with an RBI single from senior Maggie Ward (Downers Grove, Ill.).
Wellesley was unable to erase the deficit despite 10 overall hits and a solid .345 team batting average.
Game 2 | Wellesley 6, Wesleyan 0 | Final
The Cardinals (6-5) had no answer for Wicker, who only gave up a single hit and walk. In turn, Wellesley made the most of its five hits and six walks, giving Wicker the needed run support to cushion the victory.
After three scoreless innings, Delgado broke the stalemate with a grounder that caused sophomore Natalie Nicol (Crockett, Texas) to score. Mulhern then drove in a pair with a key single up the middle. The three runs put the Blue firmly in control.
Delgado's day got even better in the sixth. The senior launched a deep fly ball over the right fielder's head and blazed around the bases for a two-run inside-the-park homer that ran the lead up to 5-0. It marked Delgado's first career homerun.
A fielder's choice from senior Milo Abernethy (Phoenix, Ariz.) that allowed Awad to come home was the cherry on top of a 6-0 shutout.
The Blue continue at THE Spring Games on Thursday, March 19 with games against University of Wisconsin-River Falls (11:00 AM) and SUNY Brockport (1:15 PM).
