Norton, Mass. - April 18, 2015 - The Springfield College softball team dropped a pair of 9-1 decisions to Wheaton College in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play on Saturday afternoon at Clark Field. 

With the losses, Springfield falls to 16-17 overall and 11-7 in the NEWMAC, while Wheaton, ranked 19th nationally, are now 26-3, and 17-0 in league play. 

Up next, Springfield will host Westfield State on Tuesday, April 21 at 3:30 p.m.

Wheaton 9, Springfield 1 -- Game One

Freshman Talia Loda (East Haven, Conn.) got the nod for Springfield, and pitched 3.2 innings, giving up eight hits, seven runs, two walks and picked up four strikeouts, while Jordryn Moquin (Southington, Conn.) came on in relief and pitched 0.2 innings, giving up three hits and two runs.

At the plate, Melissa Nelson (Milford, Conn.), Jenna Webb (Harrison, N.Y.) and Carianna Gasdia (Wakefield, Mass.) all picked up hits in the loss. 

Down 1-0 in the bottom of the second inning, sophomore Emily Bouthillette (Lincoln, R.I.) roped her seventh home run of the season, which evened the score, 1-1, through two.

Wheaton came up to bat in the bottom of the next inning and promptly broke the game wide open with a pair of long balls including Hatch's first career grand slam to give the Lyons  a 5-1 advantage, while sophomore Caroline Fairbanks (Milford, Mass.) launched a two-run shot two batters later to push the gap to 7-1.

After a 1-2-3 top of the fifth inning, Berardi helped her own cause with a line drive home run to deep center field that pushed the lead to seven runs, 8-1. Hatch then registered her fifth RBI of the game on a walk-off single to right field that scored Deneen from second and sealed game one win, 9-1, via the run rule.

Wheaton 9, Springfield 1 -- Game Two

Loda started the second game of the doubleheader as well, and pitched 0.1 innings, allowing three hits, five runs and one walk, while Camdyn Morgillo (West Haven, Conn.) came on to pitch 3.2 innings, giving up eight hits and four runs.

Springfield got on the scoreboard first, much like game one, as Webb roped a single up the middle with two outs in the frame. Webb then came around to score later in the inning on single to right field by first-year Mackenzie Navarro (Taunton, Mass.) that gave the Pride an early 2-0 lead at the end of the first inning of play.

Wheaton answered with a five-spot in the bottom half of the same frame to take a 5-2 advantage.

Hatch reached on a fielder's choice, Bouthillette singled to third base and Fairbanks followed suit with a home run over the left field fence to put the Lyons on the board, 3-1. After a pitching change, sophomore Morgan Walsh (Norwell, Mass.) crossed the plate on a fielding error, while classmate Katelyn Andrade (Seekonk, Mass.) scored the Lyons' fifth tally on an infield single to the shortstop by Mary DeMoura(Boston, Mass.).

After 1-2-3 frames by both pitchers through the top of the fourth inning, the Wheaton offense struck again, this time for two more runs in the bottom of the fourth. Hart singled up the middle to drive in Seifert and Bouthillette roped a single through the left side of the infield that brought home junior Emma Hart (Lincoln, R.I.) to extend the Blue and White's advantage to 7-1.

In the fifth, Welch and Deneen produced back-to-back RBI doubles to walk-off with another 9-1 victory over the Pride.