WORCESTER, MA. - WPI hosted Emerson softball for a Monday evening NEWMAC doubleheader. The teams split their matchups, with WPI winning game one, 8-2, and Emerson taking the second game, 6-1. Emerson moves to 8-10 (1-5 NEWMAC). WPI moves to 7-8-1 (2-2 NEWMAC).

GAME ONE
Caleigh Sheehan (Fy. - Bolton, CT) started in the circle for Emerson, while Naomi Boldebuck (Fy. - Billerica, MA) started for WPI. The Engineers struck first, taking a 3-0 lead after a three-run second inning. Emerson got on the board in the fourth inning as Sheehan helped her cause with a sac fly to center field. It was Sheehan's first RBI of the season. WPI got the run back in the fifth inning when a single up the middle by Riley O'Brien (Fy. - Wynantskill, NY) drove in Alex Sheehan (Sr. - Marion, MA) to make the score 4-1.

A four-run sixth inning for the hosts broke the game open and was started by a triple from Sandy Fairbairn (Fy. - Norton, MA) that turned into a run on a throwing error. Meg Sherwood (So. - Norfolk, MA) also had a two-run double in the frame. Emerson scored in the seventh inning off a sac fly by Sam Zannotti (Jr. - Dudley, MA) to get the Engineers lead down to 8-2, but WPI held on to win the first game of the evening.

Sheehan went six innings, giving up eight runs (six earned) and eleven hits to go with four strikeouts and two walks. The loss puts her at 4-4 on the season. Boldebuck picked up her first collegiate win in memorable fashion with her performance. The Engineers' starter twirled a complete game, giving up two runs (one earned) and seven hits to go with seven strikeouts and two walks. The win brings her record to 1-1.

As for offenses, no Emerson batters had multiple hits as each of their seven knocks in the game was picked up by a different batter. Sheehan was one of those batters, going 1-2 in the contest. O'Brien had a good day at the plate for WPI, going 2-4 with two RBIs and a strikeout. Her other RBI came on a double to center field in the Engineers' four-run sixth inning. Sherwood was 1-4 with two RBIs and a run scored. Fairbairn went 1-2 with two runs, a walk, and a strikeout. Three other WPI betters tallied an RBI in the game.

GAME TWO
Jessica Gomez (Jr. - West Chester, PA) started the second game of the evening for Emerson. Kaitlyn Barr (Fy. - Grosse Point Woods, MI) took the circle for WPI. Emerson took advantage of a pair of errors in the first inning to take an early 2-0 lead. They added one more to their total in the second inning thanks to an RBI single by Claire Overton (Sr. - Wayne, PA). Shaina Lazarus (Jr. - Thousand Oaks, CA) replaced Barr in the circle in the third inning. An RBI double by Destiny Lum (So. - Kahalu'u, HI) put WPI on the board in the bottom of the third.

Neither team scored again until Emerson put up three in the sixth inning, making it a 6-1 ballgame. Zannotti drove in two on a double, and Overton plated one on a double of her own. Gomez blanked the Engineers in the bottom of the sixth and seventh to seal an Emerson win and force a split of the two matchups.

Gomez pitched her fourth complete game of the season, giving up one run and eight hits to go with five strikeouts and a walk. The win puts her at 3-6 this season. Barr gave up three runs (two earned) and a hit to go with three strikeouts and four walks in her two innings of work. Lazarus pitched the other five frames and allowed three runs and six hits to go with three strikeouts and a walk. Barr was given the loss, bringing her record to 2-3.

Overton went 2-3 with a double, two RBIs, a walk, a run, and a stolen base. Zannotti went 1-3 with a double, two RBIs, a walk, two runs, and a stolen base. Four other Emerson batters had a hit in the game. Lum went 1-3 with a strikeout while driving in the Engineers' lone run. Sherwood wen 3-3 in the contest and Sydney Russell (Sr. - Arlington, VA) went 2-4 with a run. Sheehan and Kate Gagne (Fy. - Portsmouth, NH) picked up the other two hits for WPI.

Softball's next games of the season are scheduled for Tuesday, April 9, as they host UMass Boston for an afternoon doubleheader. The Beacons are 16-4 this season but lost both games in their most recent doubleheader against Rhode Island College by scored of 4-1 and 8-0.