CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - The MIT softball team celebrated its five-member senior class of Becca O'Connor (San Antonio, Texas), Kennedy Adkison (San Jose, Calf.), Mackenzie Bivin (San Diego, Calif.), Katie Katsuyama (Manhattan Beach, Calif.), and Mikayla Cable (Valrico, Calif.) with a sweep of Clark on Thursday afternoon in NEWMAC action on Briggs Field.
THE BASICS:
- Scores:
- Game 1: MIT 11, Clark 3
- Game 2: MIT 9, Clark 0
- Records: MIT (24-9 Overall, 15-3 NEWMAC), Clark (15-23, 5-15 NEWMAC)
HOW IT HAPPENED – GAME ONE:
- The Engineers got off to a quick start as first year Layla Thiessen (Carlsbad, Calif.) led off the bottom of the first with a double and scored on a triple by Cable. Cable scored on a sac fly by junior Ava Ladd (Austin, Texas) to make it 2-0. Another triple, this one from junior Arianna Kumar (San Diego, Calif.), plated Bivin who had singled to left. Adkison then plated Kumar with a single to give the Engineers a 4-0 lead after one.
- Clark got runners on second and third in the third, but Katsuyama got Ella Traynor (Slingerlands, N.Y.) swinging to end the inning.
- The Cougars broke through in the fourth with three runs, but first year Sarah Blackett (St. Petersburg, Fla.) came in with runners on first and second and got Abigail Venis (Sudbury, Mass.) looking to end the inning and keep MIT in the lead.
- The Engineers responded with a four-run fourth. Cable knocked in the first run of the inning with a sac fly and Ladd followed with a run-scoring single to center. Adkison then knocked in two more runs with a single to center to make it an 8-3 game.
- O'Connor led off the fifth with a double, and first year Delaney Benevides (Plainville, Mass.) followed with a single. Cable then singled to left to score both runners. Ladd reached on a fielder's choice and Bivin walked to load the bases for Kumar who worked a walk to force in the game-winning run.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- MIT had five players record two hits in the game as the Engineers outhit Clark, 14-5. Theissen, Cable, Ladd, Kumar, Adkison, and O'Connor all recorded multi-hit games.
- Cable had a team-high four RBI followed by Adkison with three.
- Katsuyama gave up five hits over 3.2 innings of work to move to 5-4. Blackett pitched the last 1.1 innings allowing no hits with two walks and two strikeouts.
HOW IT HAPPENED – GAME TWO:
- MIT got on top again in the first. Cable doubled and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Bivin then doubled her home for the first run of the day.
- Thiessen knocked in the second run on a single to center in the second and Cable followed with an infield single to put the home team up by three.
- Bivin led off the third with a homer to left to make it a four-run game. Kumar walked and came around to score on a wild pitch. Benevides and Thiessen knocked in the sixth and seventh runs of the day for the Engineers.
- Junior Caroline Langmeyer (Upper Arlington, Ohio) retired the Cougars in order in the fifth to set up a chance for the Engineers to end the game in the bottom of the inning. O'Connor was hit by a pitch and junior Nicole Johnston (St. Charles, Ill.) followed with a pinch-hit inside the park homerun to win the game for MIT.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Bivin finished 2-3 with two RBI. She is tied for second on the team with four homers and 28 RBI.
- Cable went 2-3 while Thiessen went 1-3 with two RBI. Benevides finished 2-2 and stole her 27th base of the season.
- Langmeyer tossed a complete game shutout allowing just three hits with four strikeouts to improve to 13-2 on the season.
UP NEXT:
- MIT wraps up the regular season as the team travels to Coast Guard for a doubleheader on Friday, May 2 with first pitch scheduled for 3:00 PM.
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