Game 10: Babson 6, WPI 2

Cassidy Musco (Walpole, Mass.) had two hits and an RBI, junior Athena Hadjipanayis (Rye, N.Y.) had a pair of knocks and scored twice, and graduate student Michaela Russell (Boston, Mass.), sophomore Sophia Pak (New Rochelle, N.Y.) and Jackie Paglieri (Upper Saddle River, N.J.) each drove in a run in the victory. Senior Moira O'Reilly (Columbus, Ohio) went the distance to record her 17th victory of the season (17-8), allowing two runs on seven hits in seven innings, striking out two.

First-year Virgina McKinney (Larchmont, N.Y.) had a single and drove in two runs to lead WPI, which had seven hits from seven different hitters. Sophomore Destiny Lum (Kahalu'u, Hawaii) scored once after reaching base three times with a single and two walks, and first-year Riley O'Brien (Wynantskill, N.Y.) had the only extra-base hit in the game with a double. Junior Shaina Lazarus (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) started in the circle and worked into the sixth inning, striking out two, but took the loss (9-5).

The Engineers took a 2-0 lead in the second inning when sophomore Emma Nagy (Monroe, Wash.) and Lum reached on base hits, and after a sacrifice bunt moved them up a base, they both raced home on McKinney's infield single. Babson got one run back in the bottom of the second when Pak drew a no-out, bases-loaded walk, but the Beavers couldn't push any more runs across the plate after two runners were thrown out at home plate on a fielder's choice and a fly ball.

The Green and White tied the score in the fifth inning when Russell reached on a fielder's choice, advanced a base on an infield out and raced all the way home from second on a wild pitch. Hadjipanayis led off the sixth inning rally with a single, and after a WPI error, Musco drove in the go-ahead run with an infield single. A second Engineer error scored another run, Paglieri followed with an RBI single to right, and the final run of the inning came home on an infield ground out.

Game 11  - MIT 4, Babson 0 

For the second straight year, the MIT softball team won the NEWMAC Tournament Championship as the Engineers shutout Babson on Saturday afternoon, 4-0, to claim the program's third overall title and punch a ticket to next week's NCAA Tournament.
 
Sophomore Caroline Langmeyer (Upper Arlington, Ohio) was named the Tournament Most Outstanding Player for the second straight year as she tossed four complete game victories and allowed just four runs with 18 strikeouts.
 
The Engineers will head to the NCAA Tournament for the seventh time in program history, all of which have come since 2015.

MIT struck early against Moira O'Reilly as junior Mikayla Cable (Valrico, Calif.) led off with a bunt single and came around to score on a double to left-center from classmate Mackenzie Bivin (San Diego, Calif.).
 
Babson got runners on second and third with one out in the fourth, but Langmeyer got the next two outs to keep the Engineers in the lead.
 
First-year Nicole Johnston (St. Charles, Ill.) led off the sixth with a single, and Bivin made it 3-0 with a triple. First-year Arianna Kumar (San Diego, Calif.) made it a 4-0 game with her single to right.
 
Langmeyer gave up a one-out walk but got a ground out and completed the win as she threw out Sophia Pak at first.

Langmeyer earned her 19th win and fourth shutout of the season. She scattered four hits and one walk and struck out six.
 
Cable and Bivin led MIT with two hits each. Bivin and Cable now each have 142 career hits to rank tied for third in program history. Bivin increased her program record in RBI to 111.
 
O'Reilly finished the year with a 17-9 record as she went five innings and allowed four runs on seven hits. She walked none and struck out six.
 
With the win, the Engineers have punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament and will find out their location and opponent when the bracket is released on Monday, May 13th at 11 a.m. on NCAA.com.
 
About the NEWMAC

The NEWMAC is an association of 12 selective academic institutions: Babson College, Clark University, U.S Coast Guard Academy, Emerson College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mount Holyoke College, Salve Regina University, Smith College, Springfield College, Wellesley College, Wheaton College, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute, that are committed to providing high quality competitive athletic opportunities for student-athletes within an educational and respectful environment that embodies the NCAA Division III Philosophy. The conference also partners with four Associate Members: Norwich University (Football), Simmons College (Rowing), SUNY Maritime College (Football), and U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (Football), while sponsoring 20 sports.