Game #1: Clark 1, WPI 0
Game #2: Clark 5, WPI 0

Game #1 Box Score
Game #2 Box Score   

Worcester, MA --- Meghan Lennon (Charlton, MA) and Sarah Carter (Worcester, MA) each threw complete game shutouts, leading host Clark to a 1-0, 5-0 doubleheader sweep of WPI in NEWMAC softball action on Friday afternoon. Lennon allowed only one hit in outdueling WPI starter Allie Hardy (Townsend, MA) for the win in game one, while Carter scattered four hits and struck out seven to win game two. Clark improved to 11-16, 7-6 NEWMAC on the year, while WPI fell to 9-18, 2-8 in the conference.

Hardy (6-5) allowed only an unearned run on seven hits over six innings in the opener. The freshman struck out seven Clark batters on the afternoon, but Lennon's performance left her no margin for error.

After the two starters pitched hitless ball for the first two innings, Clark threatened in its half of the third by stringing together three hits. Maureen Coakley (Worcester, MA) led off with a double, but was thrown out trying to score on Lauren Blake's (Oakland, ME) single as WPI left fielder Meg Foley (Belchertown, MA) delivered a strike to catcher Sara Migdal (Galway, NY) to cut Coakley down at the plate. Foley also had the only base hit for the Engineers, a single to center in the fifth inning.

Clark would get on the board in the fourth however, scoring the game's only run. With two outs and Darcy Kurashige-Elliott (Berkeley, CA) on first via an infield single, Joanna Clark (Windham, ME) singled up the middle and Coakley singled to left, loading the bases. Elliott would then come around to score on a fielding error, providing Lennon (2-1) with all the support she would need.

In game two, Clark got on the board early, plating two runs in the first. With one out, Chelsea Proulx (Franklin, NH) was hit by a pitch which was followed by a Stefanie Kettenacker (Hastings-on-Hudson, NY) double. Proulx would score on a Melissa Traft (Milton, MA) RBI ground ball and Kettenacker on a Clark single, giving Carter a 2-0 lead with which to work.

The Cougars added three more in the fifth to put the game out of reach. Kettenacker had an RBI single in the inning that sent Blake home with Clark's third run. Later in the frame, Elliott produced the big hit with a double to left, driving in two runs for a 5-0 Cougars lead.

Carter registered strikeouts in five of the seven innings she pitched in improving to 8-6 on the season. Lindsay Brown (Westfield, NJ) suffered the game two loss for WPI, falling to 1-7 on the year.

WPI will try to rebound on Saturday with another NEWMAC doubleheader, taking on MIT at home at a rescheduled start time of 2pm. Clark is off until Tuesday, when it will resume a suspended game from April 8th at Springfield.  Clark is ahead of the Pride 3-1 after four innings.

Story by Ray Cotrufo '98 - WPI Sports Information