Softball Roars Past Wheelock College, 9-1 and 10-1

Box Scores

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Elms College senior right fielder Alison McBride (East Providence, R.I.) connected for four hits in game one and senior pitcher Destinee Meeker (Bantam, Conn.) earned her ninth win of the season in the circle and helped her cause by driving in four runs at the plate to help lift the Blazers to a sweep of Wheelock College in Wednesday afternoon's softball doubleheader at Pine Manor College.

Elms posted a 9-1 victory in the opener and followed with a 10-1 five-inning, mercy-rule victory in game two to improve to 16-12 overall, 10-2 in NECC action. Wheelock slips to 4-12 on the season, 2-8 in conference play.

Elms 9, Wheelock 1

The Blazers scored three in the top of the first when McBride singled to center to lead off the inning and then advanced to second and third on wild pitches before a sacrifice fly to left off the bat of junior shortstop Jenna Lipscomb (Cambridge, Mass.) allowed her to come home with the game's first run. A bases-loaded RBI fielder's choice by junior left fielder Marlene DiRaimo (Cranston, R.I.) five batters later sent sophomore third baseman Rachel Butt (Agawam, Mass.) across the plate before junior pitcher Courtney Hampton (Westfield, Mass.) earned an RBI walk to drive in sophomore catcher Sarah Buckley (Wilbraham, Mass.) who singled earlier in the stanza to give Elms a 3-0 lead.

Elms tacked on three more in the top of the third inning McBride connected for a two-run base hit to left center with the bases loaded, before Lipscomb followed with an RBI bunt single up the first base line to give the Blazers a 6-0 cushion.

Elms scored single runs in the fifth and sixth stanzas, highlighted by an RBI single by Buckley in the fifth, and a run-scoring fielder's choice by Hampton in the sixth frame to extend the lead to 8-0.

Wheelock's Sara Buscemi (Arlington, Mass.), who broke up Hampton's bid at a perfect game in the fourth inning, earned a two-out walk, advanced to second on a base hit to left by Sarah Negron (Northbridge, Mass.) and then scored on an RBI single to left by Nicole Zina (Bristol, R.I.) to give the Wildcats their first run of the game.

The Blazers got the run back in the top of the seventh when freshman Caitlee Carrier (Charlestown, Mass.) singled and later scored on an RBI single through the right side of the infield by freshman first baseman Allyson Witaszek (Feeding Hills, Mass.) to give Elms a 9-1 lead and eventual victory.

Zina (2-7) was the losing pitcher for Wheelock but collected two hits at the plate, while Hampton was superb en route to her seventh win of the season (7-6) tossing nine strikeouts in a complete-game effort.

McBride, Hampton and Lipscomb finished with two RBI each, while Butt, Hampton and Buckley tallied two hits each to highlight the win.

Elms 10, Wheelock 1 (5 innings)

After both sides were retired in order in the first inning of game two, Elms erupted for six runs in the top of the second on the strength of five hits and three Wheelock miscues. An RBI single by junior second baseman Jennifer Killion (Cambridge, Mass.) got the Blazers' rally going. Killion then raced home on a single to center by Witaszek to give Elms a 2-0 lead. A two-run, bases-loaded double by Meeker later in the frame gave the Blazers a 4-0 lead before a run-scoring single by McBride drove in Meeker with Elms' fifth run of the stanza. McBride capped the scoring for the inning when she scored on a Wildcats' error which set the score to 6-0.

Four runs in the top of the third inning lifted Elms' lead to 10-0 when Meeker again came to the plate with the bases loaded and drove in two runs on a double. McBride picked up her second RBI of the game with a groundout, before Lipscomb drilled an RBI single to left to lift the advantage to 10-0.

Wheelock answered with a run in the bottom of the fourth frame when Zina cracked a leadoff single through the left side and advanced to second on a base hit by Nicole Perullo (Revere, Mass.). Kim Perault (Medford, Mass.) then delivered an RBI single up the middle to score Zina and pull the Wildcats to within nine at 10-1 but that's as close as they would get as Meeker shutdown Wheelock in the fifth to seal the mercy-rule victory.

Meeker improved to 9-6 on the mound thanks to a complete-game, four-strikeout effort and added four RBI at the plate. Lipscomb and Meeker each totaled two hits while McBride notched two RBI in the nightcap.

Buscemi accounted for two of Wheelock's six hits in the second game, while Perullo suffered the loss in the circle and falls to 2-5 on the season.

Elms returns to NECC action on Saturday, April 30 when it hosts Becker College at 12:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. at Cheryl R. Condon Field.