Wesleyan University

DANBURY, Conn. – An eventful Wednesday night saw multiple milestones reached and team records broken as the Wesleyan softball team split with WestConn, winning game one 6-2 and falling in game two 11-8. The Cardinals move to 18-15 on the season while the Wolves are 11-25.
 
Molly Lennon '26 homered in both ends of the doubleheader, bringing her season total up to nine while her career total now sits at 17, both of which are new team records. Lennon passed Jill Gately '15 for the top spot on the career home run list at Wesleyan while Lennon passed Gately and Abby Rutt '17 for the single-season record.
 
Cat Palmer '26 also made a piece of history as the senior first baseman needed two hits coming into the doubleheader to reach 100 for her career. Palmer went 2-for-4 in game one, following it up with another 2-for-4 outing in game two, to finish the night with 102 career hits, making her the 25^th player in team history to reach the career 100-hit club.
 
Game one opened with a one-run 1^st for the Cardinals as Palmer doubled then was singled home by Jordynn Killion '27 in the next at-bat. WestConn answered back with a two-run bottom half before Wesleyan broke the game open thanks to Lennon's heroics in the 2^nd. The first three Cardinal batters all reached base safely, loading the bases with no one out for Lennon who took a 1-0 pitch and lofted a grand slam over the fence to make it 5-2 Wesleyan.
 
Neither team scored again until the 7^th when Killion led off the inning with a solo shot to give Kelly Baker '26 another run of support. Baker, the game one starter, threw well after allowing two runs in the 1^st, throwing six shutout innings. In those six shutout frames, Baker allowed just two hits while she stranded two runners in both the 2^nd and 7^th innings and retired the side in-order in the 3^rd and 6^th.
 
Lennon went 2-for-3 with one walk and four RBI from the leadoff spot while Leila Campbell '29 went 2-for-3 and Palmer and Killion both finished 2-for-4. Killion's home run is the first of her career.
 
Both teams sprayed hits all over the field in game two, with the two sides combining for 19 runs and 26 hits in 6.5 innings. Only four half innings out of the 13 played saw no runs scored while at least two runs eight times.
 
Palmer laced an RBI triple out to right in the 1^st inning as Wesleyan opened a 1-0 lead. WestConn took a 2-1 lead in the 2^nd before the Cardinals grabbed the lead back in the 3^rd thanks to a Naomi Tesoriere '29 two-run two-out double to score Palmer and Rebecca Cassel-Siskind '26.
 
WestConn loaded the bases in the 3^rd and Julia Valukis brought two runs in with a single as the Wolves held a 4-3 lead after three full innings. The game continued to seesaw as Wesleyan scored two more runs in the 4^th as Lennon came through with a two-run single to right with two outs to plate Lucia Zaremba '29 and Malia Apor '28, giving the Cardinals a 5-4 lead.
 
Once again, the Wolves scored two in the bottom half to restore their one-run lead, then the game took a turn in the 5^th as Wesleyan couldn't bring any runs across despite having two runners in scoring position then WestConn plated three runs in the bottom half to secure a 9-5 advantage.
 
The Cardinals got right back in the game with a three-run 6^th featuring a two-run shot from Lennon out to left center while Tesoriere came through with an RBI infield single to make it a one-run game again. Wesleyan had two costly errors in the bottom of the 6^th, allowing WestConn to score two unearned runs, increasing their lead to 11-8 heading into the 7^th.
 
A dramatic end to this one saw Cameron Maloney '29, Sophia Baez '28, and Lennon all walk in consecutive plate appearances, setting up Wesleyan with the bases loaded and one out. Cassel-Siskind went down in the count 0-2 before grounding into a game-ending double play to second.
 
The top of the Wesleyan batting order combined to go 9-for-16 at the plate with eight RBI and five runs scored. Lennon led the way going 3-for-4 with one walk, four RBI, two runs, and her second homer of the evening. Cassel-Siskind, Palmer, and Tesoriere each went 2-for-4 at the plate while Tesoriere drove in three runs while Cassel-Siskind scored two. Apor also went 2-for-4 with one double.
 
Wesleyan travels to Middlebury on Saturday for a doubleheader in the final games of the regular season.