NORTON, Mass. — The second-seeded Wheaton College (Mass.) softball team was defeated by number three seed Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 4-1, today in the second round of the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference Championship Tournament at Clark Softball Field on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.
The Lyons dip to 22-16 on the season, while the Engineers have won four straight games and improve to 26-12 on the season. MIT advanced to play Wheaton after defeating number six seed Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 6-2, earlier in the day in Norton.
The Engineers will play number four seed Babson College, a 1-0 winner over top-seeded Springfield College, on Friday, May 10 at 4:00 p.m. in Springfield, Mass., while Wheaton plays tournament host Springfield at 12:00 p.m. in an elimination game.
MIT collected eight hits in the game, but also took advantage of three costly errors by the Lyons. Wheaton opened the scoring with a run in the bottom of the first, before the Engineers scored twice in the fourth and added two more runs in the sixth.
Junior left fielder Juliette Zito (Woodbridge, Conn.) led the Lyons, reaching base three times with two singles and a walk in three plate appearances, while senior third base Bryanna Agan (Averill Park, N.Y.) was 1-3 with a double and an RBI. Senior starting pitcher Sofia Knopf (Norton, Mass.) was saddled with the loss to drop to 11-6 after allowing four runs (one earned) on eight hits and two walks to go with a pair of strikeouts in seven innings of work.
Sophomore starting pitcher Caroline Langmeyer (Upper Arlington, Ohio) gave up just one run on five hits in seven complete innings to improve to 17-4 for MIT after allowing one walk and striking out three. Senior first base Mackenzie Relihan (Naperville, Ill.) was 1-3 and knocked in two runs, while first year shortstop Arianna Kumar (San Diego, Calif.) was 2-4 with two runs scored. Junior right fielder Kennedy Adkison (San Jose, Calif.) contributed going 1-3 with a run batted in and a run scored.
The Engineers erased a 1-0 deficit with a pair of runs in the fourth to take a 2-1 edge. The first five batters of the inning all reached for the visitors. First year left fielder Nicole Johnston (St. Charles, Ill.) and Kumar sandwiched singles to center field around a walk issued to junior second base Mackenzie Bivin (San Diego, Calif.) to load the bases with no outs. Adkison hit a ground ball to shortstop, but the ball was mishandled and went into center field with Johnston scoring on the play. MIT looked to force the issue on the same play with Bivin attempting to score as well, but Zito threw a strike to the plate to cut down the potential run. Senior designated player Katia Pendowski (Elk Grove Village (Ill.) later hit a sacrifice fly to right field to drive in Kumar with the second run of the game for the Engineers.
MIT added two insurance runs in the sixth inning to increase its margin to 4-1. Kumar reached base on an infield error, before Adkison and sophomore catcher Olivia Scarpaci (Staten Island, N.Y.) followed with back-to-back singles to load the bases. Relihan delivered a two-out single through the left side to plate both Adkison and Scarpaci to give the Engineers a three-run lead with six outs left for Wheaton.
The Lyons looked to rally in the seventh when senior shortstop Lindsey Oliveira (Westport, Mass.) laced a lead-off single through the left side and later advanced to third with two outs, but Langmeyer induced a fly out to end the contest.
Wheaton got on the board first with a run in the opening frame to take a 1-0 edge. Zito ripped a single through the left side and later scored when Agan belted a double over the center fielder's head to give the Lyons their only lead of the day.
