WELLESLEY, Mass. – Wellesley College softball dropped a nine-innings first game, 4-3 to No. 24 MIT before falling 8-2 in the later half of the doubleheader. on Wednesday afternoon. Though the contests were played at Wellesley, it served as the Engineers (25-3 Overall, 11-1 NEWMAC) home contest due to field rescheduling, with the Blue (15-10 Overall, 8-6 NEWMAC) acting as the away team.
Game 1 | MIT 4, Wellesley 3 | Final (9 Inn.)
The Blue's 2-1 advantage lasted from the second inning through the bottom of the seventh, with the Blue getting MIT down to its last at-bats. With two outs and sophomore Maggie Feng (Brookfield, Wis.) on third, sophomore Delaney Benevides (Plainville, Mass.) came up big for the Engineers with an infield hit that scored the tying run. The Blue retired the third out, sending the 2-2 contest into extras.
After a scoreless eighth, Wellesley tallied once in the top of the ninth to go up 3-2. Mulhern singled up the middle, bringing in Rodriguez, who was the inherited runner. MIT countered with a pair of runs to walk off in the bottom of the ninth. Feng was the hero, driving in senior Olivia Scarpaci (Staten Island, N.Y.) and first-year Sienna Wilson (San Jose, Calif.) for a 4-3 win.
Earlier on, the Blue hopped out to an early lead, putting up a run in the first. A leadoff walk from junior Alena Mulhern (Kingston, Mass.) put a runner on first. First-year Brooklyn Awad (Montclair, N.J.) placed an RBI triple perfectly in the right-center gap to bring Mulhern all the way around the bases.
Tech fired back with a run of its own in the bottom of the first to knot it back up at 1-1. Leadoff hitter Layla Thiessen (Carlsbad, Calif.) singled and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. A single through the right side by junior Arianna Kumar (San Diego, Calif.) scored Thiessen.
Wellesley quickly retook the lead in the second. Junior Anisa Rodriguez (La Quinta, Calif.) singled to get on base and utilized a sacrifice bunt to advance into scoring position. Sophomore Natalie Nicol (Crockett, Texas) provided the necessary power, slapping an RBI double to left field and bringing home Rodriguez.
First-year Emily Watson (Weddington, N.C.) went four innings for Tech, allowing two runs, eight baserunners and punching out a pair of batters. Junior Sharona Huang (Duluth, Ga.) picked up the win in relief, only allowing one unearned run over five innings of work. Huang struck out two batters in the process.
Junior Sarah Wicker (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.) started for Wellesley, tossing 6.1 innings of two-run ball. Wicker fanned six while giving up five hits and two walks. First-year Lauren Seyller (South Elgin, Ill.) threw the final 1.2+ innings, giving up two unearned runs with two hits and a walk.
Game 2 | MIT 8, Wellesley 2 | Final (6 Inn.)
A five-second inning and 14 total hits propelled MIT to an 8-2 victory in game two.
MIT led off with a first inning run. Senior Ava Ladd (Austin, Texas) singled in Benevides to put the Engineers up 1-0 in the early going.
The Blue fired back with two runs to take the lead in the top of the second. A single up the middle got senior Emeline Gaunce (Los Altos, Calif.) to first base. A Rodriguez hit-by-pitch moved Gaunce to second. After both runners moved up a base on a wild pitch, sophomore Brynne Mellady (Marriottsville, Md.) drove Gaunce in with an infield hit. Rodriguez later came in to score when Nicol singled to right field, a second RBI of the day for the sophomore.
The Engineers' bats got hot in the bottom of the second, bringing in five runs to grab a commanding 6-2 edge. Thiessen started the hit parade with an RBI single down the left field line that plated Scarpaci. A Ladd triple to right provided two more runs, one from Thiessen and one from first-year Kaaya Mehta (Plano, Texas). Kumar brought Ladd in with a single through the middle. First-year Lauren Sundquist (Gladstone, Mich.) capped off the inning with an RBI double to send Kumar around the bases.
Kumar put the finishing touches on with a two-run hit through the right side making it 8-2 in the sixth inning. Benevides and Thiessen both came home on the single.
The game was called after six innings due to darkness, awarding MIT a second victory on the day.
Huang got the win after tossing four innings of two earned runs with two k's for Tech. Watson pitched two scoreless innings of relief.
Seyller opened for Wellesley, throwing the first 1.2 innings. Junior Jill Colgan (Las Vegas, Nev.) came in to pitch 4.1 innings of two-run relief.
Wellesley remains home tomorrow against Framingham State University at 4 & 5 PM. MIT goes to Wheaton College on Friday, April 24 for a 3 & 5 PM doubleheader.
