THE BASICS:

- Scores:
Game 1: MIT - 3, Springfield - 2
Game 2: MIT - 10, Wheaton - 2 (6 innings)

- Records: MIT (28-15), Springfield (26-14) Wheaton (22-17),

- Location: Babson Park, Mass. (Alumni Field)

- The Lead: The MIT softball team kept its hopes for a NEWMAC Title alive with two must-win games on Friday afternoon. The three-seeded Engineers eliminated fourth-seeded Springfield and won their fourth-straight game against Wheaton this season to eliminate the sixth-seeded Lyons.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED – Game One vs. Springfield

- MIT grabbed a quick 1-0 lead on an RBI double by senior Anya Chase (Wells Maine) in the first. The Engineers added two runs in the second on a single to center by sophomore Katia Pendowski (Elk Grove Village, Ill.) and an RBI single from Chase to go up 3-0.
 
- Springfield cut the MIT lead to one in the third with a sacrifice fly and an RBI single.
 
- First-year Becca O'Connor (San Antonio, Texas) entered in the fourth and held the Pride to just one hit as MIT staved off elimination with the 3-2 win.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
 
-  O'Connor notched her 10th victory of the season as she pitched four innings and allowed one hit with three strikeouts, and went 1-2 at the plate. Chase went the first three innings allowing two runs on three hits with one walk and two strikeouts. She went 2-2 at the dish with two RBI.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED – Game Two vs. Wheaton

- First-year Mackenzie Bivin (San Diego, Calif.) singled up the middle to plate classmate Kennedy Adkison (San Jose, Calif.) in the first.
 
- A RBI double from sophomore Mackenzie Relihan (Naperville, Ill.) gave MIT a 2-0 advantage in the fourth, and Relihan came around to score the third MIT run on a single from Pendowski.
 
- Wheaton cut the MIT lead to one with RBI singles in the fifth and sixth innings.
 
- The Engineers' bats came to life in the sixth as they recorded six hits and scored seven runs as Relihan's two-RBI single gave MIT the 10-2 victory.  
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
 
- Relihan and Bivin both recorded three RBI in the game. Relihan finished the game 3-4 at the plate while Bivin went 2-3.
 
- Pendowski went 2-2 with an RBI bringing her season total to 33, just seven shy of the single-season record.
 
- Chase now has 14 wins on the season as she allowed four hits and one run over 4.1 innings of work. She walked one and struck out one. The Wells, Maine native went 2-4 at the plate with one RBI. O'Connor pitched the game's final 1.2 innings as she surrendered just one run on two hits.  

UP NEXT:

- The Engineers will look to keep the season alive with a 12 PM elimination game tomorrow against host and top-seed Babson. The winner of the contest will then face WPI in the second game of the afternoon.  
 
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