MIT Takes Two From Softball

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Freshman Ellie Fodor (Trenton, Mich.) tossed a one-hitter and set a new Institute record with 16 strikeouts in game one to help MIT secure a sweep over visiting Wentworth Institute of Technology in non-conference softball action on Wednesday afternoon. Tech won the first game 4-0 before coming back for a 10-2 victory in the nightcap. Fodor and fellow freshman Karly McLaughlin (Edwardsville, Ill.) combined for 25 strikeouts in the two wins as the Engineers improved to 6-15 on the season. 

Fodor was nearly untouchable in the opener, allowing just three baserunners while striking out the side in the second, third and fifth innings. At one point, the freshman retired 14 out of 15 batters, allowing just a single walk between the first and sixth. With a pair of strikeouts in the seventh, Fodor set a new single-game program record, besting the previous mark of 15 set by Leah Bogsted in 2005.

Her counterpart, Sam Burgner (Dalton, Mass.), was just as solid early on, holding the Cardinal and Gray hitless through the first three innings. Senior Jessica Iacobucci (Phoenixville, Pa.) got the first hit of the day, leading off the bottom of the fourth with a single down the leftfield line. Iacobucci moved around the bases on a pair of groundouts before coming home on Fodor's RBI single.

That would be all the run-support Fodor would need to pick up her third win of the season, as she came within five outs of recording just the third no-hitter in program history. With one away in the sixth, sophomore Kelly Budzik (Fort Plain, N.Y.) finally broke things up with a flare into short rightfield. Budzik nearly ended Fodor's shutout bid as well, advancing to third on an error but the freshman hurler was not rattled, striking out the final two batters to strand Budzik 60 feet from home.

The Wentworth bats picked up at the start of game two, as the Leopards struck for a pair of runs in the first. However, the Engineers would respond with 10 unanswered runs, scoring at least once in every inning, to sweep the doubleheader; the first meetings between the two schools since the 2001 campaign.

Isabella Grassetti (Monson, Mass.) and Sam Curran (Quicy, Mass.) started things off with back-to-back, one-out singles and came home on a two-run base-hit by Liz Glavin (Ipswich, Mass.). McLaughlin would escape the jam with no further damage though, getting a pair of strikeouts to end the inning.

Senior Nydia Ruleman (Germantown, Tenn.) led off the bottom half of the first with a walk and would eventually score on McLaughlin's triple to right-center. Junior Anna Christensen's (Vernon Hills, Ill.) single through the left side evened things up at two.

Junior Emily Creedon (Stoneham, Mass.) would triple to lead off the second and score to go-ahead run on a single off the bat of senior Katie Harrington (Lexington, Ky.). McLaughlin picked up her second RBI of the afternoon later in the frame, drawing a bases loaded walk to plate Ruleman. Tech scored a pair in the third, three in the fourth and got a sacrifice fly in the fifth to induce the mercy rule.

McLaughlin scattered six Wentworth hits over five innings, striking out nine and walking none, to pick up her first collegiate win. All nine MIT starters reached base, led by McLaughlin and freshman Kelly Wang (La Canada, Calif.), who each scored twice and drove in a pair.

Glavin and Curran had two hits apiece for Wentworth, who sees its record fall to 10-17 on the year.

The Engineers will return to New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play on Friday, as they welcome Clark University for a pair of games beginning at 3:00 p.m. Wentworth will travel to conference rival Endicott College on Saturday, April 14 for a doubleheader slated for a 12:00 p.m. start.

(Release Courtesy of MIT Sports Information)