WORCESTER -- Top-seeded and No. 12 WPI rallied past second-seeded and No. 25 MIT, 7-6 in 10 innings, in Game 11 of the NEWMAC Softball Tournament on Saturday afternoon at Rooftop Field. The Engineers improve to 41-3, extending a program-record win total, while MIT drops to 33-8 as the teams will meet again in a winner-take-all championship game on Sunday.
WPI's
Lucy Latour (North Dighton, MA) delivered one of the defining moments, launching a game-tying three-run home run in the fifth before driving in the tying run in the 10th.
Sandy Fairbairn (Norton, MA) followed with a walk-off single to cap the comeback.
Latour finished with two hits and four RBI, while Fairbairn added two hits, including a home run, and three RBI.
Liz Jordan (Yardley, MA) reached base and scored in the fifth-inning rally, and
Riley O'Brien (Wynantskill, NY) and
Destiny Lum (Kahalu?u, HI) each contributed key late hits as WPI totaled seven runs on seven hits.
Kaitlyn Barr (Grosse Pointe Woods, MI) earned the win, delivering her longest outing of the season with seven innings of relief, allowing two runs, none earned, on six hits.
Abby Merchant (Rancho Cucamonga, CA) started and allowed four runs over three innings.
For MIT,
Sharona Huang (Duluth, GA) took the loss after 5.0 innings of strong relief, while
Emily Watson (Weddington, NC) started and allowed five runs over 4.2 innings. MIT's offense was paced by Poe, who tallied three hits and two RBI, while
Ava Ladd (Austin, TX) added three hits and the go-ahead RBI in the 10th.
MIT struck first with two runs in the opening inning, manufacturing the rally as
Layla Thiessen (Carlsbad, CA) singled and Ladd doubled to put two runners in scoring position before
Arianna Kumar (San Diego, CA) lifted a sacrifice fly and Poe followed with an RBI double to make it 2-0.
WPI answered immediately in the bottom half when Latour was hit by a pitch and
Virginia McKinney (Larchmont, NY) reached on a fielder's choice, setting up Fairbairn
's two-run home run to left that tied the game.
MIT continued to apply pressure in the second when
Maggie Feng (Brookfield, WI) connected for a solo home run to regain the lead. In the third,
Lauren Sundquist (Gladstone, MI) doubled and later scored on a single from Scarpaci to push the advantage to 4-2. MIT added another run in the fourth, taking advantage of a WPI throwing error before Poe delivered a sacrifice fly to extend the lead to 5-2.
WPI's momentum shifted in the fifth. With one out,
Stella Kozak (Hinsdale, NH) worked a walk before a fly out WPI down to its final out of the inning. Jordan then kept the rally alive with a soft opposite-field bloop single, bringing the tying run to the plate. Latour followed by blasting a three-run home run to right field that cleared the stadium, tying the game at 5-5.
From there, both teams traded threats in a tense stretch. MIT put runners in scoring position in the sixth, including advancing a runner to third after a throwing error, but WPI escaped without allowing a run. In the eighth, Poe doubled and a runner advanced to third, but the Engineers again worked out of trouble.
WPI threatened in the ninth as O
'Brien
singled and
Destiny Lum (Kahalu?u, HI) followed with a pinch-hit single to put runners on the corners with two outs, but MIT held the line to force extra innings.
MIT took the lead in the 10th under the international tiebreaker, Ladd singled through the infield to drive in the placed runner and give the Engineers a 6-5 advantage.
WPI answered immediately. With
Meg Sherwood (Norfolk, MA) placed on second, she advanced to third on a two-strike groundout from Jordan before Latour lined a single up the middle to tie the game. After moving into scoring position on a wild pitch, Latour came home moments later when Fairbairn delivered a walk-off single to center field, sealing the 7-6 victory.
WPI and MIT will compete for the NEWMAC Championship on Sunday at 1pm at Rooftop Field. The two squads have combined to win the last four NEWMAC titles with Cambridge's Engineers claiming the last three.
