Blue Softball Edged By No. 24 MIT, Rallies To Top Potsdam On Day Three in Florida

 CLERMONT, Fla. -- Wellesley College softball split a pair of games on a balmy day at the Legends Way Ballfields at the National Training Center. The Blue let an early lead slip in a 3-2 setback to New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) rival MIT, before rallying from a 2-0 deficit to secure a commanding 10-4 win over SUNY Potsdam in the afternoon. Wellesley is now 4-2 overall.

MIT 3, Wellesley 2

Sophomore Veronica Locher (Walnut Creek, Calif.) had two hits and and RBI for Wellesley, but the Blue let a late lead slip in an entertaining non-conference contest with MIT on Tuesday morning.

Senior Anna Pisac (Snohomish, Wash.) had the only other Wellesley hit in the contest with a lead-off single in the top of the second. Pisac also reached base on a free pass in the sixth inning and had a pair of stolen bases. Wellesley starter Madeline Bianchi (Lakeville, Minn.) gave up three runs, all earned, over six innings, surrendering nine hits and striking out three, to drop to 1-2 on the year.

MIT starter Deanna Delgado (Miami, Fla.) and sophomore Amber VanHemel (Coconut Creek, Fla.) felt right at home in the contest, as the two Florida natives combined for four strikeouts over seven innings. VanHemel (2-0) earned the win in relief, pitching three innings of no-hit ball. Junior Zoe Hinton (Aurora, Colo.) led the way for MIT, finishing 2-for-3 at the plate with a run scored. Jasmine Joseph (Woodland Hills, Calif.), first years Michelle Wist (Cypress, Texas) and Madi Pickett (Santa Barbara, Calif.) each had one hit and one RBI for the Engineers.

Pisac's second inning single eventually turned into the game's first run, as the Blue got to Delgado early when Pisac stole second and then made her way home on an RBI single to left from Locher. Delgado limited the damage in the second, escaping from the inning with a double play, but the Blue managed to sneak another run across thanks to an errant throw in the fourth inning. Wellesley held on to the 2-0 edge until the bottom of the fifth when MIT got one run back on an RBI double from Joseph. MIT would take the lead away in the home half of the sixth inning, scoring two runs on four hits.

First year Sarah Von Ahn (West Linn, Ore.) started the rally with a single to left before being lifted for a pinch runner. With Erika Anderson (Carlsbad, Calif.) now on first for Von Ahn, the MIT sophomore got her job done when she made her way around to score on an RBI single from Wist. Pickett then singled in the next at-bat, bring in the go-ahead run in the form of Hinton. Hinton reached base earlier in the inning on a single of her own. The inning ended on the same play when MIT had a runner thrown out trying to advance to third.

The Blue got one last crack at regaining the lead in the top of the seventh, but VanHemel set down Wellesley's 7-8-9 hitters in order to close out the victory.

Wellesley 10, SUNY Potsdam 4

The Blue rallied later in the day, and from a 2-0 first inning deficit, to defeat SUNY Potsdam, 10-4, and pick-up the split on day three in Clermont.

Locher added three more hits in the afternoon game, going 3-for-3 with three RBIs and also reaching base on a walk. First year Kalei Oliver (Vista, Calif.) also had three hits for the Blue, including her first collegiate hit in the bottom of the second, as she finished 3-for-3 at the dish with a pair of runs scored and an RBI. Junior Amanda Manning (Chico, Calif.) and first year Kendall Smith (Turlock, Calif.) each had two hits, with Smith also collecting a double and an RBI. Senior Kendra Coleman (Scottsdale, Ariz.) had a hit, one RBI, and one run scored. Pisac didn't record a hit in game two but reached base three teams via free passes and scored a team-high three runs.

Senior Jordan Ott (Hilton, N.Y.) opened the game with an inside the park home run and finished 2-for-4 with a two runs scored. First year Lucy Condon (Kitchener, Ontario) had a game-high four hits and first year Megan Fish (Getzville, N.Y.) added another as the top-three hitters in the Potsdam lineup combined for seven of the team's nine hits. First year Day Stevens (Ravena, N.Y.) had the other two, going 2-for-3 with an RBI. Fish started the contest, pitching 1.2 innings and surrendering four runs, two earned, in a no-decision. Sophomore Alissa McCauley (Malone, N.Y.) went 3.1 innings and gave up six runs, five earned, to drop to 1-2 on the year.

Ott's home run spurred a two-run Potsdam rally, as Stevens brought home the other run in the top half of the first with an RBI single to right. The Blue got both runs back in the home half of the inning when Locher scored Pisac and Smith with a single to right field. Wellesley added two more in the next inning to take a 4-2 lead and two more in the bottom of the fourth to jump their advantage to 6-2. Oliver scored on a wild pitch and Manning scored on an Ashtyn Coleman (Scottsdale, Ariz.) sacrifice fly in the second, while Smith stole home and Pisac scored on an error in the fourth.

Potsdam got two back in the fifth, closing the game to 6-4 when Ott and Faison each scored on a Wellesley error following a Wellesley throwing error. Wellesley shut down any hope of a rally in the fifth and sixth, getting one run back on an RBI single from Smith in the bottom of the fifth and three more on three RBI singles from Kendra Coleman, Locher and Oliver in the sixth to take a 10-4 lead. Potsdam put a runner on in the top of the seventh, but the game ended abruptly on a line-out double play back to starting pitcher Julia Warner (Kenmore, Wash.).

Warner pitched a complete game, seven inning effort, yielding only one earned run and striking out five to improve to 2-0 on the season.

Wellesley will play one more game in Florida when they take on Middlebury on Wednesday, March 29, at 11:30 AM.