Cambridge, Mass. – May 7, 2023 – The Springfield College softball team split its two games on the final day of the 2023 New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championship Tournament after a thrilling 1-0 walk-off victory over fifth-seeded Babson College and a 7-4 setback to top-seeded MIT in the championship finals.

Springfield, now 35-9 on the season, reached the NEWMAC Championship Tournament Final and won a pair of playoff games for the first time since the 2017 season and will now await word of an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament, for which the bracket will be revealed on Monday, May 15 at 1:00 pm on NCAA.com. Springfield came into the week fourth in the most recent NCAA Division III Region II Regional Rankings.

Game One vs. Babson (1-0 Win):

Today's elimination game was a pitcher's duel and for the second time in the tournament, Springfield walked off in the bottom of the seventh inning for a 1-0 victory.

In a contest that saw just seven total hits – three from Babson and four from Springfield – two came in the bottom of the final frame. After Babson starter Moira O'Reilly retired the first two batters, Breannah McCann (San Diego, Calif.) singled to right and was pinch run for by Ava Rainone (White Plains, N.Y.). Alli Olsen (Ridgewood, N.J.) stepped to the plate and drilled a single deep to left center and Rainone beat the throw at the plate for the 1-0 win.

Emily Gell (Trumbull, Conn.) pitched three perfect innings and tallied four strikeouts out of the pen for Springfield to improve to 5-2 on the year after Amelia DeRosa's (Miller Place, N.Y.) start that saw her go the first four frames and strikeout two.

Game Two vs. MIT (7-4 Loss):

Springfield struck for three runs in the top of the first and one in the top of the second for an early 4-2 advantage over MIT. Back-to-back singles by Mackenzie Doyle (Glocester, R.I.) and DeRosa set up an RBI knock by Carissa Pecchia (Mamaroneck, N.Y.) and a two-run double by Callie Gendron (Berlin, Conn.). The Engineers answered with a pair of runs of their own in the first before an error by MIT allowed Maggie Britt (Bridgeport, Conn.) to come across with Springfield's fourth run of the contest.

MIT starter Caroline Langmeyer allowed one hit in the top of the third and retired Springfield in order in each of the final four innings. Meanwhile, the Engineers offense struck for a run in the bottom of the third on an infield single by Rylie Spiegel and one in the bottom of the fourth on a ground out by Kennedy Atkinson to even the game up at 4-4.

In the bottom of the fifth, MIT pushed what proved to be the game winning run across the plate with an RBI double by Mackenzie Relihan and a squeeze bunt by Jordan Sell. The Engineers added an insurance run in the sixth and Langmeyer completed the game for the 7-4 final.

With two hits this afternoon, DeRosa, this year's national leader in hits, moved into the top-10 all-time on the single season Division III softball hits list and now has 82 on the year.

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