WORCESTER -- In the team's final regular season home games of 2024, the WPI softball team dropped a pair of games to Wheaton on Friday night. 
 
The Engineers (20-15-1, 11-7 NEWMAC) fell 4-1 in game one and dropped game two by a 6-4 margin. With the pair of wins, the Lyons (20-15, 13-5) moved into second place in the NEWMAC standings, leapfrogging MIT. 
 
Springfield stands in first with a 14-4 conference record, followed by Wheaton (13-5), MIT (12-6) and then WPI, Babson and Coast Guard all at 11-7 and Smith at 10-8.  Those seven teams will participate in next week's NEWMAC Tournament with the sixth and seventh seeds playing a one-game play-in contest on Monday to join the other five squads in the double elimination portion of the event, which begins Wednesday at the top two seeds.
 
Emma Nagy (Monroe, WA) finished game one as the lone multi-hit Engineer finishing with a 2-for-3 outing with a homer, her sixth of the season. She added a 3-for-4 outing in game two adding another run and RBI. Riley O'Brien (Wynantskill, NY) added a 2-for-3 effort in game two with an RBI and a run scored. 
 
Game One
The Engineers dropped the first game of the day 4-1 to Wheaton. The Lyons got on the board first with a run in the top of the first and added a pair of runs in the second to take an early 3-0 lead. Wheaton was able to add yet another run in the fifth inning to build a 4-0 lead. 
 
WPI was able to get at least one runner on the basepaths in six of the seven innings on the day but were unable to get a run across until the bottom of the seventh inning. 
 
The Engineers would not be shut out as Nagy blasted a shot down the left field line to kick off the seventh inning, but WPI could not get any closer en route to the loss. 
 
WPI finished the game with six hits to Wheaton's eight. Naomi Boldebuck (Billerica, MA) pitched all seven innings of action allowing the eight hits and four earned runs while striking out three. Sofia Knopf (Norton, MA) also went the distance for Wheaton allowing the six hits and the one run. 
 
Game Two
A three-run top of the seventh was the different maker as Wheaton came away with a 7-4 game two win. 
 
WPI started the scoring in game two. Sydney Russell (Alexandria, VA) started things off with a walk, Sandy Fairbairn (Norton, MA) followed with a single down the left field line and O'Brien walked to load the bases for Kallie Case (Phoenix, AZ) who got hit by a pitch to drive in the first run of the night. 
 
Wheaton answered in the top of the second with a three run inning to take a 3-1 lead but WPI fought back and evened the score in the third inning thanks to back-to-back solo shots from O'Brien and Nagy. Both roundtrippers were the seventh of the season for O'Brien and Nagy. 
 
WPI took its first lead of the day in the fifth inning as O'Brien kept her hot streak going with a single to left field to start off the inning. Liz Jordan (Yardley, PA) took her spot on the basepaths and moved over to second on a Nagy single up the middle. Both runners advanced off a Case sacrifice bunt and Destiny Lum (Kahalu'u, HI) grounded out to first base to get Jordan across for a 4-3 lead. 
 
But Wheaton could not be stopped, evening the score in the sixth inning and added another trio of runs, highlighted by a two run homer, in the top of the seventh to take a 7-4 lead and the ultimate victory. 
 
Next Up
WPI will wrap up the regular season on Saturday afternoon with a doubleheader at Babson beginning at noon. Both WPI and Babson sit in a tie for fourth place in the NEWMAC standings heading into the final day of games with 11-7 records. The Lyons will finish out their regular season at home on Saturday, May 4 against Emerson with a doubleheader also kicking off at noon.