The Wheelock College softball team grabbed an early two-run lead over Suffolk University in the opener of a Thursday doubleheader before falling in both ends, 9-3 and 11-1, at Pine Manor College's softball field. The Wildcats dropped to 2-6, while the Rams improved to 6-12.
Wheelock received hits from all nine starters during the opener. Sophomore Sara Buscemi (Arlington, MA/Arlington) and freshman Danielle Gaudette (Nashua, NH/Nashua South) were each 2-for-3 with a run, Buscemi reached a third time after being hit by a pitch, and Gaudette swiped a base. Junior Adriana Perry (Holbrook, MA/South Shore Charter Public School) and sophomore Kim Perault (Medford, MA/Medford) both added a hit and a base on balls, and Perry drove in two runs. Junior Nicole Perullo (Revere, MA/Revere) took the loss after yielding four earned runs in seven innings.
Sophomore Lindsey Rogers (Gloucester, MA/Gloucester) was 3-for-4 with two runs and four stolen bases for the Rams, while junior Cali Loura (Farmington, CT/Farmington) had two hits, two runs and three of the visitors' eight steals. Classmate Liz Galvin (Medway, MA/Medway) added two knocks while allowing three earned runs during a complete-game victory.
Loura doubled to lead off the first inning before stealing third and scoring on a groundout, but Wheelock countered in the home half, as Perault's first career at bat on her home field ended in a two-out RBI double that plated Buscemi from first base. The Wildcats tacked on two more runs thanks to four hits in the second, keyed by Perry's two-out, two-run single into right field.
Suffolk erased the 3-1 deficit in the following frame, scoring a trio of unearned runs. Wheelock looked to tie in the bottom portion, as senior Nicole Zina (Bristol, RI/Our Lady of Fatima) led off with a double, but three straight infield ground balls ended the threat. Senior Clara Conklin (Haverhill, NH/Northfield Mount Hermon [MA]) lofted a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning to put the visitors up 5-3, and the hosts had two on with two down in the fifth before putting three runners on in the sixth, but they came away empty both times. The Rams pulled away with four runs in the seventh, as 10 batters came to the plate.
Junior Sarah Negron (Northbridge, MA/Northbridge) was 3-for-3 with an RBI for Wheelock in the nightcap, while sophomore Jacky Hull (Braintree, MA/Braintree) had a single and stole a base. Zina took the loss, striking out four over seven frames.
Senior Monica Cioffi (East Boston, MA/East Boston) went 4-for-4 with three runs, two RBI and three steals for Suffolk, while junior Karina Bolster (Carlisle, PA/Cumberland Valley) had two hits, three runs and two of the Rams' seven steals. Loura added two hits, two runs and a pair of swipes. Freshman Samantha McGilvray (Brighton, MA/Boston Latin School) did not yield an earned run during a complete-game victory, and she also knocked in two runs.
Rogers' first-inning sac fly gave the visitors a lead they would not relinquish, and they scored once more in the second and twice in the third, when Cioffi had an RBI base hit. Singles by Negron in both the first and third innings keyed Wheelock threats, as the hosts put two runners on base in each frame but were held scoreless. After the Rams made it 6-0 in the sixth, Negron's single through the left side plated Gaudette, who legged out an infield single before advancing to third thanks to a two-base error. However, Suffolk scored five more times on six hits in the seventh, with McGilvray's two-run single the big blow.