Newton Woman Helps Softball Team Earn First-Ever NCAA Tournament Berth

Clare Doolin has contributed to the success of the 2015 WPI softball team as the squad has won a school and program record 31 games en route to its first-ever NCAA Tournament berth, said an announcement on Tuesday.

The Engineers, who finished runner-up in this past week’s NEWMAC Tournament, earned one of the coveted 18 Pool C (at-large) bids available nationwide.

WPI (31-9) will begin play Friday at 2:30 p.m. against Western New England (29-7) in a four-team regional hosted by Williams on Cole Field. The host Ephs (30-7) will take on local rival MCLA (15-20) at 5 p.m. in Friday’s other match-up.

There will be three games Saturday, with Game 3 beginning at 11am, Game 4 at 1:30pm and Game 5 at 4pm. Sunday’s championship game, Game 6, is slated to begin at noon. If a Game 7 is necessary, it will begin at 2:30pm.

Ticket prices are as follows: Adult - $5; Student - $3; Senior Citizen/Veteran - $3; and children under 12 - $2. Children age 2 and under are admitted free with a paying adult.

The Crimson and Gray are coming off a NEWMAC Tournament that saw them win three games against other teams in the NCAA Tournament (MIT, Wheaton and Wellesley) and fall just short of winning three times on Sunday to secure the conference’s automatic bid. Monday was a banner day for the NEWMAC as the conference received three Pool C bids (Wheaton, MIT and WPI) in addition to Wellesley as the Pool A (automatic qualifier).