SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The MIT softball team set a new program record for home runs in a season as the Engineers hit two more on Sunday to bring their season total to 18, however the team could not complete the sweep of Springfield as MIT blanked the Pride in game one but fell to the host in the second game of the afternoon at Potter Field.
THE BASICS:
- Scores:
- Game 1: MIT 7, Springfield 0
- Game 2: Springfield 11, MIT 3
- Records: MIT (14-6 Overall, 5-3 NEWMAC), Springfield (15-9, 6-4 NEWMAC)
HOW IT HAPPENED – GAME ONE:
- First year Delaney Benevides (Plainville, Mass.) knocked in the first MIT run of the day on a fielder's choice that scored sophomore Arianna Kumar (San Diego, Calif.).
- That was all the offense for either team as starters Caroline Langmeyer (Upper Arlington, Ohio) and Amelia DeRosa (Miller Place, N.Y.) combined to allow just four total baserunners until the Engineer bats got going in the sixth.
- MIT opened the sixth with three straight singles from junior Ava Ladd (Austin, Texas), Kumar, and junior Olivia Scarpaci (Staten Island, N.Y.). A single from first year Maggie Feng (Brookfield, Wis.) plated Ladd and a groundout from Benevides would later score Scarpaci to give MIT a 3-0 lead.
- Senior Kennedy Adkison (San Jose, Calif.) doubled to lead off the seventh and classmate Mackenzie Bivin (San Diego, Calif.) took a DeRosa pitch over the wall to give the Engineers a 5-0 lead. After a walk to Kumar, Scarpaci hit the second long ball of the inning to make it a seven-run game.
- Springfield got two runners in scoring position with one out in the bottom of the seventh, however, Langmeyer retired the next two batters to secure the shutout win.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Langmeyer tossed her fifth complete game, and first shutout of the season, to improve to 8-1 on the season. She allowed just four hits and one walk.
- Bivin hit her third homer of the season and the 13th of her career. She's now second on the team with 19 RBI.
- Scarpaci collected two hits including her team-leading fourth homer.
- Adkison and Kumar also collected two hits in the game for the Engineers.
HOW IT HAPPENED – GAME TWO:
- The Pride raced out to a quick lead, scoring five runs in the bottom of the second. DeRosa had the big hit in the inning with a bases-clearing triple.
- MIT chipped away with two runs in the third, taking advantage of a Springfield error for its first run and Bivin knocked in the second on a groundout, but MIT could not take more of an advantage of the three Springfield errors in the inning as the Pride escaped the frame with a three-run lead.
- The Pride loaded the bases in the third, but sophomore Sharona Huang (Duluth, Ga.) got out of the jam to keep it a three-run game.
- Benevides singled home Layla Thiessen (Carlsbad, Calif.) to make it a two-run game in the fourth, but the host scored two of their own in the bottom of the inning to go up 8-3 and added two more in the fifth to make it a 10-3 game.
- The Pride sealed the win with a one-out single from DeRosa.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Benevides accounted for two of the five Engineer hits on the day.
- DeRosa finished 4-5 with three runs and four RBI.
UP NEXT:
- The Engineers return home to Briggs Field where they will host Tufts in a mid-week non-conference doubleheader on Wednesday, April 16 beginning at 3:00 PM. The Pride will head to Amherst on Wednesday for a 3:00 PM doubleheader against the Mammoth.
STAY CONNECTED:
