Wheaton College (MA)

NORTON, Mass. -- The Wheaton College (Mass.) softball team pushed back late but came up short in game two of Friday's New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference doubleheader as it fell 9-5 to the number 24 ranked Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Clark Softball Field.

Wheaton fell to 15-14 overall and 5-9 in the NEWMAC after the loss. MIT improved to 26-4 overall and 12-2 in the conference after the win.

Junior center fielder Ella Molinari (Grafton, Mass.) was the only Lyon with multiple hits as she poked a single through the infield and blasted a three-run home run over the fence in left-center field. Senior right fielder Amber Arcand (Millville, Mass.) came around to score twice while first year left fielder Julia Miller (Cheshire, Conn.) was the only other Lyon to record an RBI as she finished 1-2 with a walk. Junior Peyton Blankenheim-Brown (Rio Linda, Calif.) received the losing decision as she tossed four complete innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on eight hits to go with a strikeout.

Junior Sharona Huang (Duluth, Ga.) received the winning decision after pitching five complete innings with four hits. First year Kaaya Mehta (Plano, Texas) finished 3-4 with two RBI to lead the Engineers' bats. First year Holland Poe (Tampa, Fla.) came around to score three times and had two RBI as well. Senior Ava Ladd (Austin, Texas), first year Lauren Sundquist (Gladstone, Mich.), senior Olivia Scarpaci (Staten Island, N.Y.) and sophomore Maggie Feng (Brookfield, Wis.) all had an RBI for the Engineers to round out a prolific offensive performance.

Blankenheim-Brown found herself in a bit of trouble right from the start as the Engineers poked back-to-back base hits to put a runner in scoring position. After a fly out, a bouncing ground ball struck the base runner for the third out to keep the inning scoreless. 

Junior Taylor Barry (Hadley, Mass.) reached first in the bottom of the same inning and quickly put herself in scoring position by taking her fifth stolen base of the season. She was stranded on the second bag, and the first inning ended with no scoring on either side. 

MIT put the pressure on Blankenheim-Brown right away in the second inning. Poe reached first on an error, then advanced to second after Mehta ambushed the first pitch of the at-bat for a single. Scarpaci laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to the right side, advancing both runners into scoring position. Fend plopped a can of corn into the outfield, but it had enough distance for Poe to tag up and score the first run of the game. Wheaton went down in order in the bottom of the second, keeping the lead in the Engineers' hands as they went back up to bat. 

Blankenheim-Brown pitched around a leadoff single in the top of the third, but Huang returned the favor by pitching around a Molinari base hit in the bottom of the frame. 

Sundquist led off the top of the fourth with a double, and Poe plated her with a two-run home run. The blast knocked Blankenheim-Brown out of the pitching circle as she gave way to senior Brittany Dost (Centereach, N.Y.). The veteran pitcher immediately recorded two strikeouts to end the inning, limiting the damage to just a 3-0 MIT. lead. 

First year Mady Bryan (Halifax, Mass.) reached base in the bottom of the fourth and advanced after Arcand reached on an error. Another MIT error loaded up the bases, and a wild pitch by Huang allowed Bryan enough time to slide headfirst into home plate for the first Wheaton run. Miller singled up the middle right after, and Arcand touched home to make it 3-2. 

The Engineers responded with their most productive inning of the contest. Ladd singled up the middle to score the first run of the frame before they loaded up the bases without recording an out. Mehta singled to shortstop on a slow ground ball that scored Ladd, and a passed ball saw the third M.I.T. run come home. Scarpaci ripped a single to center field to score Poe, and the Engineers jumped ahead to a 7-2 lead. Dost was done in the circle, and junior Sofia De La Rosa (Middle Village, N.Y.) returned to the fray after throwing 100 pitches in game one. She escaped the inning without any further damage, but the Lyons were looking up at a five-run deficit. 

The Lyons failed to score in the fifth, but De La Rosa came back out in the sixth and sat down the Engineers in order to keep the Lyons in contention. Arcand reached in the bottom of the sixth on another error and Miller got to first with a walk to set the table nicely for Molinari. She wasted no time in taking care of business as she sent the second pitch of the at-bat well over the wall in left-center field for a no-doubt three-run home run.

With their lead reduced to 7-5, the Engineers were in need of insurance. They found some through Sundquist as she knocked an RBI double to left field. She came around to score after Mehta singled to center field for her third hit of the game. The Engineers carried their 9-5 lead into the bottom of the seventh. 

Bryan walked in the bottom of the seventh, but her time on the base paths was shortened by a fielder's choice that eliminated the lead runner. A ground out from Arcand ended the game, and Wheaton fell to MIT, 9-5. 

The Lyons will retake the diamond tomorrow for a pair of NEWMAC games in Newport, R.I. as they face Salve Regina University at 12:00 and 2:00. The Engineers will host number 18 ranked WPIin a ranked conference doubleheader in Cambridge, Mass. at 12:00 and 2:00 p.m..