WORCESTER -- In the team's 2024 home opener the WPI softball team swept Johnson and Wales on Tuesday afternoon at Rooftop Field. The Engineers (3-3-1) edged out the Wildcats (5-7), 3-2 in game one and piled on the hits in the second game of the day en route to a 6-2 victory.
Kallie Case (Phoenix, AZ) went 1-for-3 in the first game driving in the game winning run while
Riley O'Brien (Wynantskill, NY) saw a 3-for-4 outing in game two driving in four runs and while also scoring a pair of her own. O'Brien finished the game with a career high pair of homers.
Shaina Lazarus (Thousand Oaks, CA) picked up a pair of victories in relief on the day for WPI pitching six total innings, allowing no runs and just one hit while striking out four in her first action in the circle after missing the 2023 season due to injury.
Game One
A two-out RBI from Case was the deciding factor in a 3-2 game one victory for the Engineers.
Johnson and Wales got the scoring going in the fourth inning of action after three innings of scoreless play by both teams. The Wildcats used a double and a sac fly to put the first two runs of the day on the board in the top of the fourth inning.
But the Engineers responded in the bottom half of the frame, and then the fifth, and then the sixth en route to the victory.
In the fourth inning, O'Brien got the action going, beating out a single to second base, moving up to second on a throwing error to get herself in scoring position.
Destiny Lum (Kahalu'u, HI) flew out to center to move O'Brien up to third base and she came across one batter later as
Callie Allison (Milford, OH) tripled down the right field line to bring her home.
In the fifth inning,
Virginia McKinney (Larchmont, NY) got things going with a leadoff pinch hit single up the middle, later stealing second base. McKinney moved up to third on a dropped fly by the Wildcat right fielder that also allowed
Sydney Russell (Arlington, VA) to reach. The duo attempted a double steal that evened the score at two-apiece when McKinney touched home plate.
In the next inning, WPI pulled ahead as O'Brien started things off with a walk and was replaced on the basepaths by a speedy
Liz Jordan (Yardley, PA). Jordan moved up to second on a Lum sacrifice bunt and over to third on a fly out to right field from Allison setting up the Case heroics. A single through the left side from Case brought Jordan home as the ultimate game winner.
In the seventh inning, Lazarus sat down the Wildcats, 1-2-3 to solidify the victory. Lazarus pitched all seven innings and picked up her first win of the season allowing just five hits and the two runs while striking out seven of the 28 batters she faced.
Game Two
Game two brought out the bats as the Engineers finished with a 6-2 victory putting 13 hits on the board en route to the sweep.
WPI was first to get on the board in the second inning when O'Brien ripped a shot to right field for her second home run of the season to put WPI up 1-0.
The Wildcats took the lead in the top of the third with a pair of runs off of a
Hailey Erickson (Calimesa, CA) homer as Johnson and Wales took the lead for a brief moment. In the bottom half of the inning, the Engineers evened out the score. McKinney singled to second base, stole second, moved up to third on a strikeout and came around to score on an O'Brien single to center.
In the fifth inning the Engineers sealed the victory putting four runs on the board. Russell started things off with a single down the leftfield line and stole second, setting herself up to score on a McKinney single up the middle. McKinney moved up to second on the throw home.
Moving up to second allowed McKinney to come home on an
Emma Nagy (Monroe, WA) single to center in the next at bat making it a 4-2 ballgame and driving the Wildcat starting pitcher from the game.
O'Brien welcomed the new Johnson and Wales pitcher with a homerun to right center bringing home a pair of runs and sealing the 6-2 victory.
Kaitlyn Barr (Grosse Pointe Woods, MI) started the game off for the Engineers, pitching three innings and allowing two hits and two runs while also striking out a pair. Lazarus came into the game in relief, closing out the game with four innings of action, sitting down all 13 batters that she faced in the win to pick up her second win of the day.
Next Up
The Engineers are back in action on Friday, now traveling to Brandeis for a afternoon doubleheader. The twinbill was originally scheduled for Saturday in Worcester but the two teams shifted to Friday because of the weather forecast and WPI is hosting its presidential inauguration on Friday afternoon. Johnson and Wales returns to the field against crosstown rival Rhode Island College also on Saturday at 1pm.
