CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Wheaton College (Mass.) softball team fell to host Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 13-1, in the opening game of a New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference doubleheader this afternoon at Briggs Field in Cambridge, Mass.
The Lyons slip to 19-6 overall and 4-3 in league play, while the Engineers improve to 12-5 and 3-2. The game was concluded after five innings due to the NCAA eight-run mercy rule.
MIT collected 11 hits for the game and erupted for 11 runs in the third inning to effectively put the game out of reach.
Junior first base Peyton Blankenheim-Brown (Rio Linda, Calif.) was 1-2 with a run batted in, while senior left fielder Juliette Zito (Woodbridge, Conn.) registered a double in three at-bats to pace the Wheaton offense. Senior center fielder Grace DiBacco (Selkirk, N.Y.) was 1-1 with a double and a run scored. Sophomore starting pitcher Sofia De La Rosa (Middle Village, N.Y.) suffered the loss to drop to 9-4, giving up seven runs on eight hits and two walks in two and a third innings of work for the Lyons.
Junior third base Ava Ladd (Austin, Texas) fueled the Engineers' bats, going 2-2 with a home run, four RBI, two runs scored, two stolen bases and a walk, while sophomore shortstop Arianna Kumar (San Diego, Calif.) was 1-3 with a double, two runs batted in and a run scored. Senior right fielder Kennedy Adkison (San Jose, Calif.) contributed with a triple and a single in three at-bats to go with an RBI, a stolen base and a pair of runs scored. Junior starting hurler Caroline Langmeyer (Upper Arlington, Ohio) earned the victory to up her mark to 6-1 after giving up just one run on three hits and no walks to go with a strikeout in four innings.
MIT scored its first run, just two batters into its half of the first inning. First year center fielder Delaney Benevides (Plainville, Mass.) reached on an infield single to shortstop to open the frame, before stealing second base. Senior first base Mikayla Cable (Valrico, Fla.) served a single to the left-center gap to plate Benevides and put the Engineers on the board.
MIT tacked on another run in the second to take a 2-0 margin. Sophomore left fielder Nicole Johnston (St. Charles, Ill.) rapped a single to left field, stole second and moved to third on a ground out. Benevides delivered with a two-out infield single to bring home Johnston with the second run.
The Engineers sent 14 hitters to the plate in the bottom of the third and 11 of them scored. MIT began the frame with the first five batters all reaching base, including two extra-base knocks. Adkison belted a leadoff triple to right and scored when senior second base Mackenzie Bivin (San Diego, Calif.) followed with a single to center. Ladd ripped a single down the left field line to put runners on the corners, before Ladd stole second to put both runners into scoring position. Kumar delivered a two-run double ro right-center to give the home team a 5-0 lead. Junior catcher Olivia Scarpaci (Staten Island, N.Y) drew a walk and Johnston reached on a fielder's choice to load the bases. First year designated player Layla Thiessen (Carlsbad, Calif.) hit a sacrifice fly to left to plate Kumar with the first out of the frame. Benevides worked a walk to reload the bases, before Cable reached on an error to bring home Scarpaci on the play. Adkison registered her second hit of the inning with an RBI single to center to keep the bases loaded. Bivin drew a walk to force in the Engineers' ninth run of the game. Ladd capped the scoring by hammering a pitch over the right field fence for a grand slam homer to give MIT a 13-0 advantage.
The Lyons broke into the scoring column in the top of the fourth to make it 13-1. DiBacco cracked a lead-off double to left-center and scored, one out later, when Blankenheim-Brown came through with a single to left field.
The teams continue play in game two of this afternoon's twinbill.
