No. 6 Wellesley Drops NEWMAC Softball Tournament Opener to No. 3 Babson

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – No. 3 Babson College topped No. 6 Wellesley College softball, 4-2, in Game #2 of the 2019 NEWMAC Softball Championship on Wednesday afternoon at Briggs Field on the campus of MIT.

With the victory, Babson improves to 24-13 and will face No. 2 MIT at 4:30 PM in Game #4. Wellesley (11-16-2 overall) will now play in Game #5 of the NEWMAC Championship on Friday morning, May 3, at 10:00 AM at WPI's Rooftop Field.

2019 NEWMAC Softball Championship Bracket

With Babson leading 3-2 in the fifth inning, Babson junior Brooke Stock (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) came on for starter Katie Gademsky (Hillsborough, N.J.) and pitched 3.0 innings of scoreless relief with three strikeouts to lock down the victory for the Beavers. Gademsky pitched 4.0 innings, working around seven hits, while striking out three to pick-up the win. 

The NEWMAC's leader in batting average during the regular season, sophomore Gen Brittingham (Aliso Viejo, Calif.) got the Blue on the board when she scored junior Kendall Smith (Turlock, Calif.) with an RBI single in the top of the first. Brittingham finished the game 1-for-3 for the Blue, while Smith was 3-for-4 with two runs scored out of the leadoff spot.

Babson wrestled the lead back in the bottom half, when first year Isabel Aguilar (Avon, Conn.) scored two with a triple into the right centerfield gap. Senior Josephine Mares (Houston, Texas) then added to the Babson advantage in the bottom of the third, scoring Tori Roche (Andover, Mass.) to make the score 3-1 after the junior had reached with a one-out single to start the inning.

The Blue cut the deficit to one in the top of the third. Smith reached on a single to leadoff the inning, moving to second on an Alyssa Hana (La Mirada, Calif.) sacrifice. She then scored to make the score 3-2 following a collision at first after Hensch put the ball in play with a bunt. 

Wellesley looked destined to tie the game in the top of the fifth but Stock shut down the rally. Smith doubled to lead off the inning and advanced to third on a sacrifice. However, Babson senior Alex Corrigan (Middletown, N.J.) cut Smith down at the plate on a ground ball to second to end the threat. Stock followed with consecutive 1-2-3 innings, while Roche added an insurance run with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth to give Babson the 4-2 final.

First year Hayley Moniz (Westfield, Mass.) pitched 6.0 innings for the Blue, surrendering eight hits and four runs while striking out one. Moniz was also 1-for-3 at the plate, while junior Autumn Brown (Marshfield, Mass.) added a pair of hits in the setback.

For more on the 2019 NEWMAC Softball Championship, visit newmacsports.com.