Cambridge, MA --- MIT scored four times in the first inning and then held off WPI down the stretch to take a 7-5 New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) baseball victory this afternoon. Senior Hayden Cornwell (Newport Beach, CA) drove in three runs for the Engineers while junior Alex Venditti (Newton, MA) drove in a pair for WPI.
MIT (12-7, 9-3 NEWMAC) wasted little time getting on the scoreboard in the first inning. Sophomore starter C.J. Doskocil (Sterling, MA) recorded the first out for WPI (16-12, 7-7 NEWMAC), but then surrendered four straight hits to the Engineers, including run-scoring doubles to senior Parker Tew (Chapel Hill, NC) and junior Nate Rodman (Corvallis, OR). Cornwell added an RBI single between the doubles and senior Reid Bishop (Cypress, TX) singled and eventually scored on a wild pitch to make it 4-0.
WPI came back to make it a one-run game in the third when junior John Caliri (Hanson, MA) led off with a double. An error put runners on the corners for junior Sean Greene (Hingham, MA) who delivered an RBI base hit. A ground out and a wild pitch brought home two more runs for the Engineers to make it 4-3.
A pair of singles in the bottom of the fourth set up a two-run rally for MIT. Tew grounded out to plate one run before Cornwell came up with a two-out base hit to bring in another and make it 6-3. MIT added another run in the sixth when Cornwell drove in his third run of the afternoon with a sacrifice fly to center.
WPI came right back in the top of the seventh. With one down sophomore Nick Comei (Haverhill, MA) singled before junior Vinny D'Ambrosio (Mahopac, NY) drew a two out walk. That brought in sophomore Jason Morrison (Frisco, TX) out of the bullpen for MIT to face Venditti, who greeted him with a double to right that scored both runners.
From there the MIT bullpen got the job done, with Morrison recording the final out of the seventh and junior Alan Wang (Paoli, PA) coming in to pitch the final two innings for the Engineers. WPI threatened in the eighth, getting runners to second and third with two away, but Wang picked up a key strikeout to end the threat and then set the side down in order in the ninth to record the save.
Junior Eric Tu (San Roman, CA), the second of four MIT pitchers on the day, received his first win of the season with 3.2 innings of one-hit, one-run relief. Wang allowed just one hit in his two innings on the mound, fanning five. Doskocil took the loss for WPI, going five innings and giving up six run on nine hits. Senior Andrew Portera (Alpharetta, GA), gave the Crimson and Gray three strong innings of relief.
Tew, Cornwell, Rodman and freshman Austin Filiere (Chandler, AZ) all had multiple hits for MIT, with Tew leading the way with three. Senior Zach Blanchard (Warwick, RI) went 3-for-4 to lead WPI.
MIT will be back in action at home tomorrow, hosting Clark at 3:30pm in a NEWMAC clash. WPI host Becker tomorrow at 3:30pm at the New England Baseball Complex in Northboro.
Release Courtesy MIT Sports Information