NORTON, Mass. – The Wheaton College (Mass.) softball team was defeated by No. 25 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 4-1, this afternoon in the opening game of a New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference doubleheader at Clark Softball Field on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass. The doubleheader was rescheduled from April 12.
The Engineers, who are ranked in the most recent National Fastpitch Coaches Association Poll, improve to 13-6 overall and 3-4 in league play, while the Lyons slip to 13-11 and 7-2.
MIT did all of its scoring in the first three innings with single runs in the first and second frames, before doubling its lead with a pair of runs in the third to take a 4-0 lead. Wheaton spoiled the shutout with a run in the bottom of the sixth.
Langmeyer struck out five and issued two walks in seven complete innings to improve to 8-2 on the season for the visitors. Senior designated player Katia Pendowski (Elk Grove Village, Ill.) paced the Engineers at the plate with a 2-4 effort that included a double and a run batted in. She was one of four MIT hitters with multiple hits. Junior Mikayla Cable (Valrico, Fla.) and sophomore catcher Olivia Scarpaci (Staten Island, N.Y.) were both 2-4 with a stolen base and an RBI, while first year shortstop Arianna Kumar (San Diego, Calif.) was 2-4 with a pair of doubles and a run scored.
Junior left fielder Juliette Zito (Woodbridge, Conn.) was 1-3 with a pair of stolen bases and a run scored for the Lyons and sophomore first base Peyton Blankenheim-Brown (Rio Linda, Calif.) was 1-3 with a double. First year designated player Taylor Barry (Hadley, Mass.) and classmate Ella Molinari (Grafton, Mass.) were both 1-3 with Barry swiping a bag as well. Senior starting pitcher Sofia Knopf (Norton, Mass.) dropped to 7-5 on the year after giving up four runs on nine hits and a walk to go with four strikeouts.
The Engineers scored the first run of the game with two outs in the top of the first. Cable laced a single through the left side, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, stole third and trotted home ahead of a double to center off the bat of Pendowski.
MIT added a run in the second to take a 2-0 lead. The Engineers loaded the bases after a lead-off double from Kumar, a single by Scarpaci and a base on balls drawn by second base Ellie Hasegawa (Highland, Md.). Cable lifted a fly out to center to trigger Kumar to score from third on the sacrifice fly and give the visitors a two-run lead.
MIT put two more runs on the board in the third to increase its margin to 4-0. Junior Mackenzie Bivin (San Diego, Calif.) was hit by a pitch to open the frame and senior Mackenzie Relihan (Naperville, Ill.) reached on a fielder's choice to put runners on first and second with an out. Kumar reached on an infield error with Bivin rounding third to score the third run of the game for the Engineers. Scarpaci dumped a single into left field to plate Relihan with MIT's final run of the contest.
Wheaton looked to respond right away in the bottom of the third with Blankenheim-Brown smacking a double to right field to open the frame. She moved to third on a sacrifice bunt to stand 60 feet away from the plate with one out. Langmeyer bared down and set the next two batters down on strikes to end the threat.
The Lyons broke into the scoring column in the bottom of the sixth to cut the deficit to 4-1. Zito served a single to center field and stole second, before Barry ripped a single to left to put runners on the corners with no outs. Zito scored on the front end of a double steal after the throw to second to erase Barry was off the mark. Langmeyer minimized the damage again, inducing three straight ground balls to get out of the inning.
Wheaton was unable to tack on any more runs in the seventh.
