NORTON, Mass. — The fifth-seeded Wheaton College (Mass.) softball team was defeated by top-seeded Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 4-2, this afternoon 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 26-14 on the season, while the Engineers have won eight of their last nine and improve to 26-10. Wheaton will take on number seven seed United States Coast Guard Academy in an elimination game tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. at MIT in Cambridge, while MIT advances to play number two seed Babson College tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. in Cambridge as well.
The Engineers collected 11 hits and held Wheaton to just five in the game.
The Lyons scored the first two runs of the game in the top of the second, before MIT rallied for three runs in the fourth and added a run in the fifth.
Junior first base Peyton Blankenheim-Brown (Rio Linda, Calif.) hit a solo homer and stole a base for Wheaton, while junior catcher Riley Dolan (Coram, N.Y.) was 1-2 with a double, an RBI and a walk. Sophomore third base Emma Boucher (Derry, N.H.) was 2-3 with a double and a run scored. Sophomore starting pitcher Sofia De La Rosa (Middle Village, N.Y.) was saddled with the loss to slip to 13-7. She allowed four runs (three earned) on 11 hits and a walk to go with a pair of strikeouts.
Junior third base Ava Ladd (Austin, Texas) and first year center fielder Delaney Benevides (Plainville, Mass.) each collected three hits and knocked in a run to lead MIT. Ladd also doubled and walked for MIT, while Benevides stole a base and scored a run. First year left fielder Layla Thiessen (Carlsbad, Calif.) was 1-4 with a run batted in, a stolen base and a run scored and sophomore shortstop Arianna Kumar (San Diego, Calif.) was 1-3 with a double and a run scored. Junior starting pitcher Caroline Langmeyer (Upper Arlington, Ohio) earned the win to improve to 15-2 on the year after giving up two runs on five hits and three walks, while fanning four batters.
The Engineers scored three runs in the bottom of the fourth to erase a 2-0 deficit and take a 3-2 edge with two outs. First year designated player Maggie Feng (Brookfield, Wis.) began the rally with an infield single to shortstop, before stealing second base. Benevides dumped a single into right field with Feng scoring ahead of the throw to the plate to put MIT on the board. Benevides moved to second on the throw and stole third. Thiessen beat out an infield single to second with Benevides scoring on the play to pull the Engineers even at 2-2. Mikayla Cable (Valrico, Fla.) worked a walk and Ladd punched a single to center to bring Thiessen around to score the go-ahead run. Cable looked to catch the Lyons sleeping with an attempted steal of home, but De La Rosa cut her down at the plate to end the inning.
The Lyons threatened to get the run back in the top of the fifth when senior center fielder Grace DiBacco (Selkirk, N.Y.) drew a walk and Blankenheim-Brown later reached on an infield error with two outs to put runners on the corners. Blankenheim-Brown stole second to put both runners in scoring position, but Langmeyer ended the threat with a devastating change-up to get a swinging strikeout.
MIT tacked on an insurance run in the fifth to increase its lead to 4-2. Kumar ripped a one-out double to center, went to third on a sacrifice bunt that was mishandled, and scored the fourth run on a sacrifice fly to left off the bat of junior catcher Olivia Scarpaci (Staten Island, N.Y.).
Wheaton scored both of its runs in the top of the second to take a 2-0 lead. Blankenheim-Brown blasted her third long ball of the season over the left field fence to give the Lyons a 1-0 edge. One out later, Boucher doubled to the left center field gap and Dolan repeated the feat with a double of her own to plate Boucher and push Wheaton's advantage to two.
