GORHAM, ME. – The New England College baseball team sets a new program record for the most wins in a single season after they put up three runs in the eighth inning to rally past the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in game four of the 2019 NCAA Division III Gorham Baseball Regional at Ed Flaherty Field on the campus of the University of Southern Maine.
 
THE BASICS
Score:  New England College 6, MIT 5
Records: Pilgrims (27-15, 10-6 NECC) | Engineers (23-18-1, 9-8 NEWMAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Engineers were the first to strike in the top half of the first inning. After a leadoff walk drawn by Jared Schwait, he would score on a bad throw to third. The Pilgrims would answer in the bottom half of the inning, as Xavier Nunez ripped a double down the left field line, plating Connor Morin from second.
 
New England College jumped out to a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the second, as Jameson Carey singled up the middle scoring Nick Powers. In the top of the third inning, MIT threatened with runners on first and second with no outs in the frame, but Stanley Vargas retired the next three batters in order to escape out of the jam.
 
In the top of the fourth inning, the Engineers regained the lead. After one run scored on a failed double-play attempt. Two more runs would cross the plate as Tony Rice singled up the middle to make it 4-2 MIT. In the bottom half of the frame, Carey beat out an infield single. He would advance to third on a failed pickoff attempt, before scoring on an MIT balk.
 
The Engineers looked to put the game away, as they load the bases with two outs in the inning, but Vargas dug deep and struck out Cory O'Shea to end the top of the fifth. MIT would reload the bases in the top of the sixth, but this time they would take a 5-3 lead on a sacrifice fly to deep center field.
 
The MIT pitching staff could not keep the Pilgrim bats down for the whole game, as they rallied for three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. Powers drew a leadoff walk before Joe Maestu was hit by a pitch. Carey loaded the bases, as he reached on a fielding error by the Engineer's pitcher. Anderson would flair a blooper to centerfield with one out to score one, before Maestu scored on a Morin sacrifice fly to left field. Evan Delaney would get plunked with a pitch to reload the bases before Xavier Nunez also got hit to score the go-ahead run.
 
Manuel Alejandro picked up the save and sent the Pilgrims to the final day with a 6-5 victory.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
-This was the first-ever meeting between the two schools. New England College now leads the series 1-0.
- The Pilgrims are now 25-4 in games that they put up 5+ runs.
-The win sets a new record for most wins in a season for NEC with 27.
-New England College made their first appearance to the NCAA postseason, as they downed Mitchell College 2-1 in the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Championship game.
-MIT enters the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time in program history, after winning the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) for the third time.  
- Both teams won their opening round matchup in the Division III Regional. The Pilgrims downed No. 3 Southern Maine 10-2, while the Engineers defeated Oswego State 5-4.

UP NEXT
Sunday, May 19^th, 12:00 pm vs No. 3 Southern Maine - NCAA Division III Baseball Tournament