Wellesley, MA --- Katie Martin (Bedford, NH) fired a no-hitter in game one to spark the WPI softball team to a sweep on the road at Wellesley in the NEWMAC regular-season finale. The Engineers won game one, 8-0 in five innings, and took game two, 8-1. 

WPI improves to 27-13 overall, finishing NEWMAC play at 13-5.  After starting conference play 1-3, the Crimson and Gray captured 12 of its last 14 NEWMAC contests, including six straight and surged up the standings to claim the second seed in next week's NEWMAC Tournament.  The Engineers will host Wednesday, May 4th and will take on the winner of the earlier contest between third-seeded MIT and sixth-seeded Wheaton at 4:30pm. 

Wellesley ends its 2022 campaign at 4-27 overall, 3-15 in conference action. 

GAME ONE

Martin had a spectacular outing, recording her first career no-hitter throwing all six innings for the Engineers in an 8-0 win. She was a walk away from a perfect game, retiring 18 of the 19 batters she faced while striking out one to move to 17-4 on the season. 

WPI scored a solo run in the top of the second, as Jocelyn Diaz (Reedley, CA) led off with a double and was sent home on a single up the middle from Stephanie Bishop (Milford, NH). 

It was a one-run game until the top of the fifth when a two-out single from Shaina Lazarus (Thousand Oaks, CA) scored Sydney Russell (Arlington, VA) and Bishop for a 3-0 WPI advantage. 

The Engineers blew the game open with five runs in the top of the sixth inning. Kelly Pritchard (Orange, CT) led off with a double while Kallie Case (Arlington, VA) knocked in a run with a single. Pinch runner Amelia Montgomery (Acushnet, MA) scored on a wild pitch while Lindsay Ambrosino (Chelmsford, MA) crossed the plate on a Wellesley fielding error. RBI singles from Alex Sheehan (Marion, MA) and Alicia Salvalzo (Hudson, NH) made it 8-0 WPI before Wellesley got a final pop-out to end the frame. 

In the bottom half of the inning, Martin got a pop out and a line out, before striking out the final batter of the game to seal the no-hitter and the win. 

For Wellesley, Marisa Hensch (Carlsbad, CA) was the only base runner of the game, working a second-inning walk. In the circle, Marisa Sgambati (Scottsdale, AZ) suffered the loss, throwing 5.2 innings, allowing eight runs — five earned, on 11 hits with three strikeouts. 

GAME TWO

The Engineers completed the sweep with an 8-1 win in game two, pounding out 11 hits. 

A huge first inning saw WPI jump out to a 5-0 advantage. With two outs, Salvalzo reached on an error, while Lazarus was hit by pitch, setting up a three-run homerun off the bat of Pritchard to make it 3-0. Diaz and Case kept the inning going with back-to-back singles, while Ambrosino doubled to drive both runs in, giving the Engineers a five-run bulge. 

WPI manufactured a sixth run off the legs of Russell in the bottom of the second. She led off with a walk and then advanced to third and scored on a sac bunt from Sheehan to make it 6-0. 

Wellesley scored its only run of the series in the bottom of the fourth to cut it to 6-1. A lead-off single from Hayley Moniz (Westfield, MA) scored from first on a single from Aniko Alexander (Gaithersburg, MD) to right-center. Another single in the frame, this one from Peytin Penny (Louisville, KY), put two runners on with two outs, but WPI's Sophia Togneri (Hudson, MA) got the final batter of the frame to strikeout to end the threat. 

WPI tacked on two more in the top of the seventh. A double from Lazarus plated a lead-off Salvalzo single for the seventh Engineer run, while Pritchard singled home Lazarus for the eighth. 

Pritchard entered the circle for the bottom of the seventh and worked around a lead-off double from Alexander to seal the victory for WPI. 

Togneri got the win, her fourth of the year, throwing six innings, allowing one run on five hits with four strikeouts. 

For Wellesley, Moniz suffered the loss, allowing five runs, all unearned in two-thirds of an inning of work. Lauren Young (Fresno, CA) threw 5.1 scoreless innings in relief, allowing three hits.