Nighthawks Battle to Split with Wildcats

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. Nicole Perullo (Revere, Mass) nailed a single to center field to drive in Elise Ordile (Waltham, Mass.) in the bottom of the tenth inning to propel the Wheelock softball team to a 6-5 win in the first game of a double-header Saturday afternoon. The Newbury Nighthawks came back in game two however, downing the Wildcats 15-4 behind two hit performances from freshman Sarah Young (Waterloo, NY) and sophomore Ariel Ross (Gales Ferry, Conn.).

Wheelock took a 4-3 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning in game one behind pitcher Perullo, but Newbury rallied for two runs on an RBI single by Katelyn Mark. Neither team scored in the eighth or ninth but in the tenth, Newbury had an opportunity with a runner on third and one out. Third basemen Nicole Zina (Bristol, RI) fielded the suicide squeeze by Brittany Stracher (Dudley, Mass.) and threw out Jessica Jordan (Stoneham, Mass.) at home; Wheelock catcher Erin Godfrey then threw out Stracher who tried to take second on the play.

In game two, Wheelock gave up six runs before Ordile nailed a two run homer to left center field to cut the lead to 6-2, but Newbury responded with eight runs over the next two innings to put the game out of reach.

In game two, Ross led the Nighthawks with four RBIs while Young knocked in three runs for head coach Christine Grenache.  Zina and Ordile led the Wildcats in game two with two RBIs each.

Wheelock returns to action next Wednesday against Suffolk University, while Newbury hosts Albertus Magnus on the same day.

- Game story submitted by Kim Lloyd, Sports Information Director - Wheelock College

- Game photo provided by Samantha Yanofsky