BOSTON, Mass. - Emerson and Babson faced off at Rotch Field on Saturday afternoon for a doubleheader between conference rivals. The two teams finished the afternoon with a win and a loss each. The Lions move to 13-15 (4-10 NEWMAC), while the Beavers move to 16-15 (7-7 NEWMAC).
Babson took the first game, 7-1, behind some solid hitting early and late in the game and a stellar pitching performance by Moira O'Reilly, but Emerson bounced back in the second game as
Caleigh Sheehan spun a gem and
Claire Overton drove in three of the Lions six runs.
GAME ONE: Babson 7, Emerson 1
Babson wasted little time getting on the board in the first game of the afternoon as Emily Walsh drove a runner in on a single to center field with one down to give the Beavers a 1-0 lead. The visitors would go up 3-0 by the end of the next frame thanks to a leadoff home run by Kate Karamouzis and an RBI sacrifice line drive to shortstop by S. Moore.
The Beavers would be shut out until the sixth inning when Cassidy Musco drove in a runner with a double to make the score 4-0. Babson tacked on two more in the top of the seventh to extend their lead to 6-0. Emerson's only run of the game came in the bottom of the seventh when
Riley Caiazza drove in
Sam Zannotti with a single to right field.
Jessica Gomez pitched the whole game for the Lions, picking up two earned runs while allowing nine hits and three walks and striking out one. O'Reilly had one earned run while allowing seven hits, walking six, and striking out nine.
GAME TWO: Emerson 6, Babson 1
The roles were reversed to start the second game as Emerson scored first, getting out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a pair of run-scoring doubles by Gomez and Overton. The Lions extended their lead to 6-0 in the third inning as Overton belted a two-run home run and starting pitcher
Caleigh Sheehan helped her own cause with a two-run double.
Sheehan held Babson scoreless until the top of the fifth when an error at first base on a hit by Jackie Paglieri allowed Allie Cubberly to score. The Beavers would be shut out for the rest of the game as Sheehan collected her eighth win, allowing four hits and two walks to go with six strikeouts in the complete game.
Babson starter Katie Vlacich was chased in the third inning, hanging five earned runs on three hits, three walks, and a strikeout. Nicolle Petrillo pitched the rest of the game for the Beavers, picking up one earned run on three hits, five walks, and two strikeouts.
NEXT UP
Emerson faces MIT next Friday for another NEWMAC doubleheader. The Engineers recently dropped out of the NFCA Poll and are 17-9 (7-5 NEWMAC) this season. Babson will host Endicott for a midweek doubleheader on Tuesday. The Gulls have an overall record of 18-7.
