Providence, RI --- In a rematch of last year's NCAA Regional, the WPI softball team played its first games in the Northeast in 2023 when they squared off against Johnson & Wales on Saturday afternoon.  

The Engineers (3-6) got the best of the Wildcats (7-6) in game one with a 13-5 run-rule victory, while Johnson and Wales turned the tides in game two to finish with a 16-8 run-rule win over the Crimon and Gray. 

WPI put together 28 hits on the day paced by a monster game one outing from Emma Nagy (Monroe, WA) while Destiny Lum (Kahaluʻu, HI) finished the day with a 5-of-8 day with six RBIs and a run scored. Alicia Salvalzo (Hudson, NH) put together a 3-for-4 game one outing, scoring three runs and driving in another while Meghan Urakawa (Chandler, AZ) went 3-for-3 in game two with a run scored.  

Sophia Togneri (Hudson, MA) picked up the win in game one, pitching 4.2 innings of action, allowing six hits just one run and struck out two. Kelly Pritchard (Orange, CT) finished out the game with 1.1 innings of action, allowing four runs on four hits.  

The game two win went to Sage Borkowski (Oxford, CT) who pitched the first four innings of action, allowing eight runs on 15 hits. Katie Schied (Hightstown, NJ) stepped in the final two innings, allowing just one hit and no runs to help the Wildcats to the win.  

GAME ONE 

A 3-for-4 outing from Nagy which resulted in eight RBIs and three runs scored highlighted the game one victory. Each of Nagy's hits went out of the park on the day resulting in a pair of three run homers, and a two-run homer to help propel the Engineers to the win.  

Nagy's trio of home runs fell one shy of the NCAA record (4) held by four players and last completed in 2014. The three homeruns in a single game are the most by a NEWMAC player this season while her eight RBIs are the most this season by a NEWMAC athlete, and her three runs scored tie for the most by a NEWMAC player in the 2023 season.  

Her first of the outing came in the first inning of action. After the first two Engineer batters walked to start the game, Lum connected and sent the first roundtripper of the inning out of the park to give WPI a 3-0 lead. Back-to-back singles set the mood for Nagy who followed up with her first three-run shot of the day as WPI led 6-0 after the first half inning. 

The Engineers added another in the second inning as an Salvalzo single brought home Lindsay Ambrosino (Chelmsford, MA) and in the third inning a Meg Sherwood (Norfolk, MA) sacrifice fly scored Jocelyn Diaz (Reedley, CA) to make it an 8-0 game.  

After JWU was able to get one back in the bottom of the third, cue Nagy's next roundtripper, this time of the two-run variety in the top of the fifth, also scoring Salvalzo to hit double-digits and a 10-1 lead.  

JWU added a pair in the bottom of the fifth and the Engineers got enough players on base in the top of the sixth to bring Nagy to the plate yet again, and yet again she went outside the park, this time with her second three-run homer of the day to seal the victory.  

Despite a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth, the Engineers walked away with the 13-5 run-rule, game one win.  

GAME TWO 

WPI struck first in the top of the first after a Salvalzo single to center brought home Ambrosino but the Wildcats were able to even the score in the bottom half of the frame.  

The Engineers added three more to the total in the top of the second. First, a Sydney Russell (Arlington, VA) bases loaded single up the middle drove home Ava Laughlin (Chester Springs, PA), followed by an Ambrosino single, which scored Sherwood, and finally both Russell and Ambrosino touched the plate on a bases clearing RBI single to right center from Lum to build a 5-1 lead.  

But as they had in the first inning, Johnson and Wales responded as well in the second, this time with an eight spot that featured five singles and some opportunistic baserunning to make it a 9-5 game in favor of the Wildcats.  

Neither team would get on the board until the fourth inning when the Wildcats added another six runs to their total putting them a half an inning away from a run-rule victory. But WPI played the spoiler putting up three runs in the top of the third to keep the game going.  

A pinch-hitting Kallie Case (Phoenix, AZ) walked to start things off followed by a Urakawa single. Sherwood stepped to the plate and singled up the middle to make it a 15-6 game, prompting a pitching change for JWU.  

Following the switch, Russell loaded the bases, taking advantage of a Johnson and Wales miscue as Urakawa crossed the plate, though the WIldcats were able to turn two on the play. Lum's big bat sent a shot to right center which brought home Sherwood with two outs to keep the Engineers' hopes alive.  

But ultimately, JWU came away with the run-rule win on a walkoff single from Danielle Floyd (Cheshire, CT) which scored Megan Antaya (Somerset, MA) to earn the 16-8 victory.  

The Engineers are back at it on Wednesday afternoon when they host their first games of the season as Amherst comes to town to play two beginning at 3:30pm. Johnson and Wales will also be back in action on Wednesday, March 22 when they face off at Roger Williams at 3:30pm.