CLERMONT, Fla.—Graduate student Cameron Whiteford (Centerville, Md.) tossed a five-inning no-hitter in her Babson College debut to lead the Beaver softball team to a split of a pair of games in the season debut Saturday afternoon at The Spring Games.

The Beavers defeated Clarkson behind Whiteford in the opener, 8-0, before falling to Ramapo in the afternoon contest, 3-1. The win in the opener marked the first career coaching victory for Babson first-year head coach Tori Roche.

Babson opens the season at 1-1 while Clarkson ends the day at 0-4 and Ramapo is off to a 2-0 start to its season.

Game 1 - Babson 8, Clarkson 0 (5 innings)

Whiteford scattered three walks over five innings while striking out 11. She fanned the first seven batters she faced and struck out at least two in the first four innings before seeing her perfect game end with a leadoff walk in the fourth. She issued back-to-back walks with one out in the fifth before completing the no-no by inducing a pair of infield groundouts.

The Beavers scored eight runs on 12 hits, including three knocks by junior Sophia Pak (New Rochelle, N.Y.) and two apiece by senior Sara Moore (Kennett Square, Pa.), sophomore Emily Walsh (Flemington, N.J.) and first-year Belle DiCampello (Pottstown, Pa.) in her collegiate debut. Pak and Walsh each drove in two and DiCampello scored twice in the victory.

Babson took a 2-0 lead with runs in the first and second innings. Moore singled, stole second and later scored on an infield grounder in the first; and DiCampello singled to lead off the second, went to second on a walk by sophomore Devin McCall (Virginia Beach, Va.) and raced home on an RBI single by Pak.

The Green and White blew the game open with four runs in the third. DiCampello and McCall delivered back-to-back RBI singles, Pak added a run-scoring infield single, and Walsh capped the rally with a two-run double to left center.

Back-to-back one-out singles by Pak and Walsh sparked a two-run rally in the fifth. Moore followed with an infield single to load the bases, and Pak and Walsh came home on an infield throwing error on a fielder's choice by senior Athena Hadjipanayis (Rye, N.Y.).

Game 2 – Ramapo 3, Babson 1

Junior Allie Cubberly (Lagrangeville, N.Y.) led the Beavers with two hits, including a double, while Moore, Pak, DiCampello and first-year Maddy DeLong (Cranford, N.J.) had one hit each. Walsh drove in the only Babson run with a third inning ground out.

Graduate student Moira O'Reilly (Columbus, Ohio) went the distance in the circle and took the loss despite not giving up an earned run. She allowed just five hits, a walk and a hit batter in seven innings while striking out 10.

The Roadrunners scored all three unearned runs in the first two innings. Senior Katie Rygiel (Hillsborough, N.J.) walked to lead off the first inning, went to third on a single and scored on a Babson throwing error. Sophomore Clay'e Correa-Vanness (Hillsborough, N.J.) and junior Lia Milsom (Roxbury, N.J.) both reached base on bunt singles and stole second in the second inning, and both scored on a two-out Babson fielding error.

The Green and White got on the board in the bottom of the third. Pak led off with an infield single and went to third on Cubberly's bunt single and a Ramapo throwing error. Walsh brought Pak home with an infield grounder.

Cubberly ripped a double to center field in the bottom of the fifth to bring the tying run to the plate but was stranded when Walsh grounded out to end the inning. The Beavers put two runners on base in the sixth when DeLong singled and was sacrificed to second by Hadjipanayis and sophomore Charlotte Raymond (Wrentham, Mass.) walked but they, too, were stranded.

The Beavers put their first two runners on base in the seventh inning when DiCampello singles and Pak reached on a fielder's choice, and loaded the bases on Walsh's fielder's choice, but Ramapo junior Brooke Knight (Toms River, N.J.) struck out the last batter to close out the win for the roadrunners.

Babson will be back on the diamond on Sunday morning at The Spring Games, taking on the University of New England at 9 a.m. and Wisconsin-River Falls at 11:15 a.m.

GAME NOTES
• Babson is now 3-1 all-time against Clarkson in what was the first game against the Golden Knights since 2018; and drops to 0-3 all-time against Ramapo in the first match-up against the Roadrunners since 2013.
• Whiteford's no-hitter was the first of her career after 45 appearances at the University of Rhode Island from 2022-24, and the first for a Babson pitcher since O'Reilly threw no-no's in both ends of a doubleheader at Salve Regina, 4-0 and 10-0, on April 27, 2024.
• Babson is 12-2 since last season when scoring at least one run in the first inning.