BABSON PARK, Mass.— A two-out bases-loaded error in the bottom of the eighth inning allowed the winning run to score as third-seeded MIT outlasted fourth-seeded Babson College, 2-1, in Game Nine of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Softball Tournament Thursday afternoon at Alumni Field.
With the win, MIT captured its fifth win in a row to improve to 27-12 and moves into the driver's seat in the NEWMAC Tournament as the only remaining unbeaten team. Babson had its six-game winning streak snapped and dropped to 26-17 overall, and moved into the elimination side of the bracket.
MIT sophomore Caroline Langmeyer (Upper Arlington, Ohio) outdueled senior
Moira O'Reilly (Columbus, Ohio) in the circle to pick up the win and improve to 18-4 on the season. Langmeyer allowed just one run and eight hits in eight innings of work without walking or striking out anyone, while O'Reilly had her 12-game winning streak snapped despite giving up just two runs (one earned) on four hits and five walks in 7.2 innings while fanning two.
First-year
Emily Walsh (Flemington, N.J.) tripled and singled and knocked in Babson's only run while junior
Athena Hadjipanayis (Rye, N.Y.) had two hits for the Beavers. Graduate students
Michaela Russell (Boston, Mass.) and
Cassidy Musco (Walpole, Mass.), junior
Sara Moore (Kennett Square, Pa.), and first-year
Jackie Paglieri (Upper Saddle River, N.J.) all had one knock as the Beavers outhit the Engineers 8-4.
Sophomore Olivia Scarpaci (Staten Island, N.Y.) singled and knocked in a run for the Engineers, and juniors Michaela Cable (Valrico, Fla.) and Kennedy Adkison (San Jose, Calif.) and first-year Nicole Johnson (St. Charles, Ill.) all had one base hit in the win. Junior Mackenzie Bivin (San Diego, Calif.) and first-year Arianna Kumar (San Diego, Calif.) both walked twice, and Johnston and Kumar scored the Engineers' runs.
MIT jumped out in front in the bottom of the second inning when Kumar walked, went to second on a sacrifice bunt and came around to score on Scarpaci's single to right center. The Beavers answered right back in the top of the third when Paglieri led off with a single to right center, advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt and Russell's bloop single to left before scoring on Walsh's ground out to second.
Babson missed an opportunity to take the lead in the top of the sixth after Walsh led off with a triple to right field. After holding at third on an infield ground out, she was gunned down at the plate on a sacrifice fly attempt for a double play to end the inning. MIT also nearly took the lead in the last of the sixth when Cable led off with a single and went to third on a sac bunt and a ground out to second, but O'Reilly ended the threat by inducing another infield ground out.
The Beavers threatened again in the top of the eighth, loading the bases with one out. Moore reached on a one-out infield single, Russell was hit by a pitch and Walsh reached on a fielder's choice after Moore beat the throw to third. The inning ended when the next batter flew out to right and Moore was tagged out in a run down after attempting to score on the fly ball.
The Engineers produced the game-winner in the bottom of the eighth with a two-out rally. Johnston singled up the middle and Bivin and Kumar both walked to load the bases, and Adkison's ground ball got past the Babson infield to allow Johnston to score the game-winning run.
The Green and White will play an elimination game against sixth-seeded WPI on Saturday at 12 p.m. in Cambridge while MIT will face the winner of that contest in the championship game on Saturday at 2 p.m.
GAME NOTES
• Babson dropped the rubber game between the two schools this season and is now 46-28 all-time against MIT in a series that dates back to 1988.
• The Beavers are 3-7 all-time against MIT in the conference playoffs.
• With the loss, Babson is now 11-8 in one-run games this season.
• The Green and White lost for just the second time in 25 games this season when allowing two runs or fewer.
