Norton, Mass. - Emerson softball visited NEWMAC rivals Wheaton for a doubleheader on the last day of the season. The hosts took the first game, 6-1, before shutting out the Lions in a fast-paced second game, 3-0. Sam Zannotti picked up the 100th hit of her collegiate career in game one.

Emerson ends the season at 14-20 (5-15 NEWMAC), while Wheaton qualifies for the NEWMAC tournament at 22-15 (15-5 NEWMAC).

GAME ONE: Wheaton 6, Emerson 1
Jessica Gomez made her 13th start in the circle for Emerson this season in the first game of the afternoon. The hosts tabbed Sofia Knopff for her 17th start.

The Lions took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first after Makenzie Killough drove in Sam Zannotti with a two-out double to left center. Wheaton evened the score in the bottom of the second with a one-out RBI double by Jill Ceddia. Ceddia was brought around in the next at-bat on a single by Allison Weston, giving the home team a 2-1 lead.

It was deja vu in the bottom of the third, with Ceddia delivering Wheaton's third run of the game on another run-scoring double and then promptly scoring on another single by Weston. The score remained 4-1 until the bottom of the fifth when Weston drove in two more on a bases-loaded single through the right side.

Apart from a single by Izzi Shaffer in the bottom of the seventh, Knopff handled Emerson without issue to claim the win for Wheaton. Knopff gave up four hits and struck out five in her twelfth complete game of the season, while Gomez gave up twelve hits and struck out three over six innings of work.

Killough, Zannotti, Shaffer, and Mackenzie Rice combined for all four of the Lions' hits in the contest, with Zannotti's being the 100th hit of her collegiate career and Rice adding a stolen base in the top of the fifth to her stat line. Weston and Ceddia combined for five hits and six RBIs to lead Wheaton's offense. Peyton Blankenheim-Brown also had a productive day by going 2-4 with a double in the bottom of the second.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Jessica Gomez - 6.0 IP, 12 HA, 6 RA, 5 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO
Makenzie Killough - 1-3 (2B, SO), RBI
Mackenzie Rice - 1-3, SB
Sam Zannotti - 1-2 (BB, SO), R
Izzi Shaffer - 1-1

GAME TWO: Wheaton 3, Emerson 0
Caleigh Sheehan stepped into the circle in the sixteenth and final start of her first collegiate season. Wheaton sent out Amber Arcand for her thirteenth start.

Wheaton got on the board first after Blankenheim-Brown scored in the bottom of the second on a ground out with runners on second and third by Riley Dolan, then made it 2-0 after Weston drove in the new runner n third with a single up the middle. Wheaton added one more in the bottom of the third on Blankenheim-Brown's RBI single up the middle.

That was all in terms of scoring for both teams, as Sheehan and Arcand pitched efficiently in the matchup. Sheehan gave up five hits and struck out one over six innings of work, while Arcand allowed five hits and recorded three strikeouts in her eighth complete game of the season. The game ended after an hour and seventeen minutes of play.

Zannotti, Killough, Riley Caiazza, Steph Trendell, and Kit Zenga recorded all five of Emerson's hits in the game. Blankenheim-Brown led the home team's offense with two hits and an RBI, and Grace DiBacco made noise in the stat column by going 1-2 with a double and a walk.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Caleigh Sheehan - 6.0 IP, 5 HA, 3 RA, 3 ER, 5 BB, 1 SO
Sam Zannotti - 1-3
Steph Trendell - 1-3 (SO)
Riley Caiazza - 1-3
Kit Zenga - 1-3