SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - In the second day of the 2013 NEWMAC softball tournament, #2-seeded Wheaton defeated #5-seeded MIT. A six-inning, four-hit shutout by Lyons' sophomore pitcher Emily Berardi (Boston, Mass./Boston Latin) paved the way for the Blue and White in a 4-1 victory on Saturday afternoon at Potter Field on the campus of Springfield College.

Wheaton was quick to strike in the bottom of the first inning. After singling to lead it off, freshman Emma Hart (Lincoln, R.I./Lincoln) scored from third when the throw from catcher to shortstop was bobbled in an attempt to throw out would-be base stealer junior Jenna Rocha (Rehoboth, Mass./Dighton-Rehoboth). The ensuing hit by freshman Marissa Timoteo (Jupiter, Fla./Jupiter) chased MIT starting pitcher Ellie Fodor (Trenton, Mich./Trenton) from the game.

Fodor was dealth the loss, despite only facing four batters and surrendering one unearned run, three hits, and one strikeout. Freshman Alexandra Marshall (Glen Head, N.Y./North Shore) pitched final five-and-two-thirds innings in relief striking out ten batters.

The Engineers had runners on base in six out of seven innings, but were unable to capitalize through the first six innings.  The Lyons played error-free defense behind Berardi.

With Rocha aboard in the bottom of the third, Timoteo launched a two-run homer over the left field fence, her first-career round-tripper, to give Wheaton a 3-0 lead. Classmate Erin Deneen (Framingham, Mass./Lincoln-Sudbury) tacked on another run in the fourth inning with a double to the base of the left field fence driving in junior Ashley Vertente (Fairhaven, Mass./Fairvhaven) who was hit by a pitch earlier in the frame.

MIT managed two hits and a run off of Wheaton sophomore pitcher Noelle Christmas (Plymouth, Mass./Plymouth South) in the seventh inning, but the comeback bid ended with a bases loaded ground out by sophomore K.K. Wopat (Edwardsville, Ill./Illinois).

Timoteo went 2-3 at the plate for Wheaton with a home run and two RBI.

Wheaton (25-15) will play the winner of Babson versus Wellesley, today at 4pm. With the loss, MIT (19-14) was eliminated from the NEWMAC tournament.