CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — The Massachusetts Institute of Technology softball team scored six runs in the bottom of the fourth to provide the difference in a 7-3 victory over visiting Wheaton College (Mass.) this evening in the nightcap of a New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference doubleheader at Briggs Field in Cambridge, Mass.

The Lyons fall to 19-11 overall and 7-5 in league play, while the Engineers improve to 25-4 and 11-1.

Wheaton scored a pair of runs in the top of the third to take a 2-1 edge, before MIT rallied for six runs to take a 7-2 advantage. The Lyons added a run in the seventh, but it wasn't enough.

Junior second base Bryanna Agan (Averill Park, N.Y.) led Wheaton at the plate, going 3-4 with a home run and two runs batted in to go with a run scored, while sophomore left fielder Juliette Zito (Woodbridge, Conn.) was 2-4 with a run scored. First year first base Lily Platt (Hallowell, Maine) doubled in three at-bats for the Lyons. First year starting pitcher Amber Arcand (Millville, Mass.) suffered the loss to drop to 7-5 after allowing five runs (four earned) on five hits and a base on balls to go with a strikeout in three innings of work.

Junior Katia Pendowski (Elk Grove Village, Ill.) led the Engineers with three runs batted on a home run and senior center fielder Jordan Sell (Schwenksville, Pa.) was 1-3 with a double, an RBI and a run scored. First year third base Ava Ladd (Austin, Texas) also contributed, going 1-4 with a double and a run batted in. Sophomore starting pitcher Becca O'Connor (San Antonio, Texas) scattered 10 hits and issued a walk in giving up three runs in seven complete innings to improve to 8-1 on the season.

MIT erased a 2-1 deficit with six runs in the fourth to take the lead for good at 7-2. Sophomore second base Mackenzie Bivin (San Diego, Calif.) and sophomore right fielder Kennedy Adkinson (San Jose, Calif.) smacked back-to-back singles to open the frame before Pendowski came through with a three-run blast for the big blow to give the home team a 4-2 lead. First year catcher Olivia Scarpaci (Staten Island, N.Y.) cracked a double for the fourth straight hit of the inning and later scored on a Sell single to center field to make it 5-2. Senior shortstop Haley Samuelson (Houston, Texas) had walked previous to Sell and later scored on a wild pitch, before Ladd doubled in Sell with the team's seventh run of the contest. 

Sophomore left fielder Mikayla Cable (Valrico, Fla.) scored the first run of the game for the Engineers when she reached on a bunt single with two outs, advanced to third on an outfield error and scored on a wild pitch to give MIT a 1-0 edge.

Wheaton took its only lead of the game with a pair of runs coming on a long ball in the third to give the Lyons a 2-1 margin. Arcand roped a single to right field and Agan followed with her first career home run with a shot over the fence in right center field for a one-run Wheaton lead.

The Lyons scored the final run of the day when Zito singled to left field in the seventh and later scored on a two-out single to left field off the bat of sophomore center fielder Grace DiBacco (Selkirk, N.Y.).

Wheaton returns to the diamond when it heads to Boston, Mass. to take on conference rival Emerson College for a 1:30 p.m. twinbill tomorrow at Rotch Field, while the Engineers host Smith College tomorrow for a 12:00 p.m. league doubleheader.