CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Trailing by four runs going into the bottom of the ninth, MIT staged a dramatic rally that was capped by senior Creed Mangrum (Sandy, Utah) driving a ball into the right centerfield gap to plate the winning run in a 13-12 win over UMass Boston. The victory improved the Engineer's record to 17-11 while the Beacons fell to 13-17.
MIT started its rally with one down. Trailing 12-8, the Engineers strung together three straight singles to load the bases. Sophomore Kendall Helbert (St. Louis, Mo.) brought home the first run with a sac fly before another walk loaded the bases again. Pinch hitting, junior Phil Reiser (Alpharetta, Ga.) drew another walk to force in another run. That brought senior Matt Dziok (Southampton, Mass.) in from the bullpen to close it out for UMass Boston, but junior Parker Tew (Chapel Hill, N.C.) greeted him with a single back up the middle that tied the game. Mangrum then followed with his hit into the gap that won it.
In a game that saw the lead change hands five times, UMass Boston looked to have put things away with a five-run eighth inning that erased an 8-7 MIT advantage. With one down freshman Alan Webb (Gloucester, Mass.) doubled, scoring junior Anthony Gomes-Sirianni (San Francisco, Calif.) who had led the inning off with a single. After a base-running mistake cost UMass Boston another run, senior Jose Pena (Boston, Mass.) delivered a two-run base hit to left. A hit batter put another runner on before junior Kyle Szatrowski (Agawam, Mass.) capped the inning with a two-run triple.
UMass Boston broke on top in the game, getting an RBI single from freshman Daniel Mantoni (Northbridge, Mass.) in the first and RBI singles by Webb and senior Jamill Moquete (Boston, Mass.). MIT came back with five runs in the third to take its first lead of the contest, scoring its first run of the game on Tew's RBI hit. With the bases loaded sophomore Nate Rodman (Corvallis, Ore.) brought home another run on a fielder's choice play, with an UMass Boston error allowing another runner to cross the plate. Senior Sean Karson (Orlando, Fla.) then laced a double to left that scored a pair to make it 5-3.
After two scoreless innings the Beacons retook the lead with four in the sixth, highlighted by a two-run single through the left side by Mantoni. MIT got one back in the bottom half of the inning on an RBI single by senior Jon Rea (Palo Alto, Calif.) and then took the lead in the seventh on a two-run home run by junior Hayden Cornwell (Newport Beach, Calif.).
Mangrum finished with a 4-for-6 day to lead a 20-hit MIT offensive output. Tew had three hits and three RBI, while Rodman and Rea also finished with three hits. Moquete, Mantoni, Gomes-Sirianni and Webb all collected three hits for UMass Boston, with Mantoni and Webb driving in three each.
Senior Tim Wilson (Nacogdoches, Texas), the seventh pitcher of the day for MIT, picked up the victory after allowing one hit and a walk while striking out a hitter in one inning of work. Junior Harlon Zeerip (Bridgewater, Conn.) took the loss, giving up five runs and six hits over 2.1 innings.
MIT will begin a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) semifinal playoff series in its next action with a doubleheader at Springfield College on Saturday starting at Noon. UMass Boston will play again tomorrow with a doubleheader at Plymouth State starting at 12:00 p.m.