Worcester, Mass. – After nearly a month between games, Clark University finally returned to the softball diamond on Thursday afternoon. Unfortunately they ran into a WPI squad that banged out 31 hits and scored 32 runs in sweeping the Cougars in a NEWMAC doubleheader at a windy Rooftop Field.

Ama Biney (Worcester, Mass.) went 3-for-4 with a pair of home runs, a triple, six RBI and two runs scored to lead the Engineers to a 16-8 win in game one while Nina Murphy-Cook (Roseville, Calif.) and RiAnna May (Westminster, Colo.) combined to go 7-for-7 at the plate with three RBI and six runs scored in the 16-1 game two triumph.

WPI, who was playing for the third straight day, improved to 13-5 overall and 3-3 in league contests, while the Scarlet and White slipped to 2-10 after their first conference games of the year.

Biney bookended an eight-run opening frame with a two-run blast to left field and a RBI triple down the left field line in the opener. Hope Shevchuk (Burlington, Conn.), Jacquelyne DiTroia (Andover, Mass.), Murphy-Cook also recorded an RBI for the Engineers in the early uprising.

Clark grabbed two back in the second when Hayley Buckheit (Camden, Maine) scored on an infield miscue and Anjelica Gonzalez (Merrimack, N.H.) scampered home on a wild pitch.

Shevchuk chased May home with a double to center field with one out in the bottom of the second. After a pair of runs came in courtesy of miscues, Biney crushed a three-run homer to left center for the 14-2 advantage.

The Cougars responded with six two-out tallies in the third. Gonzalez walked in a run before Melanie Dusseault (Auburn, N.H.) dropped an RBI single into shallow center field. Sami West (Gonic, N.H.) and Annmarie Fransen (Belmont, Mass.) were hit with the bases loaded an ensuing infield miscue allowed two more to cross home plate.

WPI ended the game early following a RBI single by DiTroia and a miscue that enabled Natalie Fabrizio (Hampstead, N.H.) to score in the fifth.

Shevchuk also had an outstanding game for the Crimson and Gray as she batted 3-for-3 with two RBI and three runs scored. Murphy Cook (2-for-3) chipped with a RBI, three runs scored and two stolen bases while DiTroia (2-for-4) added two RBI, a pair of runs scored and a stolen base. Murphy-Cook and May each walked twice.

Lauren Mackey (Dublin, N.H.) went 2-for-4 with a run scored while Gonzalez walked a game-best three times and paced the Cougars with a pair of runs scored.

The Engineer trio of Caroline Medino (Pompton Lakes, N.J.), Kelsey Saucier (Worcester, Mass.) (4-2) and Casey Arpin (Uxbridge, Mass.) combined to strike out 10 batters. West (0-4) fanned a game-best five batters while Brenna Foley (Charlton, Mass.) faced the final three batters of the contest.

In a statistical oddity, WPI scored 16 runs on 12 hits and Clark plated eight runs on seven hits.

Game two saw the Engineers score at least two runs in each inning. After taking a 3-0 lead after one, Shevchuk and Fabrizio (double) each delivered a pair of runs in back-to-back at-bats to highlight a seven-run spree with two outs in the home half of the second. WPI tacked on two in the third and four in the fourth.

Buckheit broke up the shutout with a solo blast to left field in the top of the fourth.

WPI's Clare Doolin (Newton, Mass.) twirled a four-hitter and tied her career high with 11 strikeouts. Buckheit and Foley split time in the circle for Clark.

Both teams return to NEWMAC action at noon on Saturday. The Engineers host Emerson and the Cougars travel to Wheaton.