Softball Settles For Split After Wesleyan Walk-Off Double

BOX SCORE vs. MT. ST. VINCENT | BOX SCORE vs. WESLEYAN

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The Babson College softball team came within one out of a sweep on day two of its spring break trip to Florida, but a late rally by Wesleyan University forced the Beavers to settle for a split. Now 2-2 on the season, Babson defeated Mount Saint Vincent, 7-2, earlier in the day before falling to Wesleyan, 8-7.

In Sunday's first contest, rookie pitcher Megan Brain (Pompton Plains, N.J.) earned the first victory of her collegiate career as she pitched the Beavers to a 7-2 win over Mount Saint Vincent. More details on that contest will be posted when they become available.

Trailing 2-0 after two against Wesleyan, Babson took control of the contest with five in the top of the third and two more in the fourth. First-year Ashleigh Phelps (West Chester, Pa.) sparked the third-inning outburst with a one-out single, and sophomore Jess Pashos (Winchester, Mass.) followed with a walk. Both runners then moved up on a passed ball and scored when sophomore captain Nicole Latini (East Bridgewater, Mass.) reached on an error. After sophomore Kayla Davis (Gardner, Mass.) reached on another defensive miscue, first-year Catie Funk (Scarborough, Maine) drove in Latini with an RBI single to left, giving the Beavers a 3-2 lead. Two batters later, junior captain Jess Winer (Longmeadow, Mass.) made it 5-2 with a two-run single to left that plated both Funk and Davis.

In the fourth, a hit-by-pitch by Pashos and a walk to Latini put two runners on for Davis, who smacked a two-run double to right to increase Babson's advantage to 7-2. That lead would hold up until the final two innings, when Wesleyan scored six runs to steal the 8-7 victory. The Cardinals used two errors and two doubles to score twice in the sixth, and then scored one on an Allie Beatty single in the seventh that made it 7-5. Two batters later, Talia Bernstein beat the Beavers with her fourth hit of the contest, as she drove in three with a two-out, bases-loaded double. Bernstein drove in five of the Cardinals' eight runs on the day.

Funk was the only Babson player with multiple hits in the nightcap, as she finished 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI. Davis and Winer each drove in two, while senior Danielle Liska (Seymour, Conn.) took the loss after giving up eight runs - six earned - and striking out seven in 6 2/3 innings.