Clark 5, WPI 3 - NEWMAC Tournament - Game #2

Box Score

Wellesley, MA --- WPI Softball dropped the opening game of the NEWMAC Tournament this afternoon, a 5-3 defeat to Clark in the tournament opener at Wellesley College. The Engineers (14-22, 0-1) will now look to avoid elimination on Saturday at 12pm when they take on either Springfield, Babson or Coast Guard at Coast Guard. Clark (17-16, 1-0) will take on host Wellesley immediately following its game with WPI today.

Both teams remained scoreless for more than half the game, as WPI starter Allie Hardy (Townsend, MA) and Clark starter Meghan Lennon (Charlton, MA) each posted zeroes in the first four innings. WPI produced three hits while Clark had six base hits in the first four innings, with each failing to score. The Cougars' best rally came in the first, when three consecutive singles by Chelsea Proulx (Franklin, NH), Melissa Traft (Milton, MA) and Darcy Kurashige-Elliott (Berkeley, CA) loaded the bases with one out. Hardy was able to escape trouble, however, registering a strikeout and inducing a ground ball to shortstop to end the threat.

WPI was able to break up the scoreless game in the top of the fifth, plating a run on four singles to take a 1-0 lead. Kelly Johnson (Buxton, ME) and Meg Foley (Belchertown, MA) produced back-to-back one-out singles before Kim Martilla (Kings Park, NY) drove Johnson home with the game's first run with a base hit up the middle.

Clark was able to break through in the bottom half of the inning however, taking the lead away from the Engineers. Lauren Blake (Oakland, ME) led off the inning with a single, moving to second on a sacrifice. Blake would come around to score as Traft came through with an RBI single to tie the score. Traft would later score following an Elliott single to center and a Joanna Clark (Windham, ME) groundout, giving the home Cougars a 2-1 lead.

The Engineers responded immediately in their half of the sixth, scoring twice to regain the advantage. Allie Roche (Chelmsford, MA) led off the WPI sixth with a walk and moved to second on a sac bunt to start the rally. Nicole Maglione (Charlton, MA) followed and was able to reach via a passed ball on a strikeout that advanced Roche to third.  Roche would then score on a fielding error, while Maglione later scored on a Foley RBI groundout to right field, giving WPI a 3-2 lead.

Clark came back with three runs in the bottom of the inning to take a 5-3 lead. Lennon reached base leading off the frame, followed by base hits from Stefanie Kettenacker (Hastings-on-Hudson, NY) and Blake that tied the game and set the Cougars up with runners at the corners and one out. Blake stole second, which was key to Clark picking up an insurance run as Traft came through with a single to right that plated both runners and gave the home club a 5-3 lead heading into WPI's last at-bat.

Traft was 4-for-4 with three RBIs and a run scored on the day to lead Clark, while Blake was 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI for the victors. Sarah Carter (Worcester, MA) picked up the win for Clark in relief, tossing two innings without allowing an earned run. Lennon went the first five, allowing one earned run on seven hits, striking out two.

Hardy (10-6) went the distance for the Engineers, allowing five runs on 12 hits over six innings. Martori and senior catcher Sara Migdal (Galway, NY) led WPI with two hits each.

Story by Ray Cotrufo '98 - WPI Sports Information