CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – MIT and Wheaton College will play for the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) baseball championship tomorrow after the two teams split the first two games of the best of three championship series this afternoon. MIT won the first game, 10-7, before Wheaton came back to take the nightcap, 7-5.
Game 1
MIT (23-11) jumped out early in the first game with three first inning runs and never trailed again. The Engineers put two on with a single and a walk for junior Nate Rodman (Corvallis, Ore.), who delivered a two-out, two-run double to right. He then came around to scored on a base hit by senior Reid Bishop (Cypress, Texas) to make it 3-0.
Wheaton (25-14) got on the board in the third when senior Tyler Contillo (Uncasville, Conn.) doubled to bring in sophomore Joshua LaJoie (Somers, Conn.). The Lyons then made it a one-run game in the fourth, getting a two-out run when junior Jimmy Smith (Worcester, Mass.) singled, stole second, and then scored on a base hit by junior Matt Lavanchy (Walpole, Mass.).
MIT responded with two in the fourth on a two-run home run by freshman Austin Filiere (Chandler, Ariz.) that made it 5-2. Wheaton crept back within a pair in the top of the fifth when LaJoie led off with a double and came around on a single by senior Apolinar De La Cruz (Providence, R.I.). The Engineers answered in the bottom half of the inning, scoring five times with two outs. After getting RBI singles from freshman Garrett Greenwood (Edmond, Okla.) and sophomore John Drago (Peoria, Ariz.), MIT loaded the bases for senior Parker Tew (Chapel Hill, N.C.) who delivered two runs with a single up the middle. Senior Hayden Cornwell (Newport Beach, Calif.) completed the uprising with an RBI hit to left, putting the Engineers up 10-3.
Wheaton made it interesting down the stretch, scoring three times in the seventh when De La Cruz followed a leadoff double with an RBI base hit before Contillo smacked a two-run home run over the fence in right center. The Lyons added another in the eighth when LaJoie went deep to left, to make it 10-7.
Junior Michael Wymer (Flower Mound, Texas) came on in the ninth from the MIT bullpen and shut things down, allowing just a one-out walk as he picked up the save. Senior K.J. Parent (Knoxville, Tenn.), the second of four Engineers to throw, picked up the win after going 2.2 innings and giving up three runs on five hits. Sophomore Michael Bruemmel (Bridgewater, Mass.) started and took the loss for Wheaton, surrendering eight runs on eight hits over 4.2 innings. Sophomore Kyle Kasprzyk (East Falmouth, Mass.) was solid out of the bullpen for the Lyons, holding MIT without a hit over the final 3.1 innings.
Game 2
It was a pitchers dual from the start in the second game. MIT's starter, sophomore David Hesslink (San Diego, Calif.) gave up just one hit over the first five innings, while Wheaton's starter, freshman Brady Furdon (Natick, Mass.) was just as strong, allowing three hits over the first four innings.
MIT got to Furdon in the fifth when a hit batter, a single and a wild pitch put runners on second and third with one away. Tew put the first two runs of the game on the board, singling to center to put the Engineers on top.
Wheaton came right back in the sixth, starting the inning with a double and a walk. Junior Justin Silvestro (Waltham, Mass.) then tied the game with a triple to the gap in right center. De La Cruz then put the Lyons on top with a ground out to first. MIT then committed a pair of miscues in the field that helped Wheaton score twice more, with junior Mike Beneduce (North Kingstown, R.I.) tripling in one of the runs.
Wheaton scored single runs in the seventh and eighth, getting a De La Cruz sac fly in the seventh and an RBI single by Lavanchy in the eighth. MIT answered each time, getting an RBI single in the seventh from Rodman and a two-run double by Filiere in the eighth that made it a 7-5 game.
Senior Mike Bisceglia (New Boston, N.H.), who gave up the two eighth inning runs, shut the door on the Engineers in the ninth, retiring the side in order to set up Sunday's showdown. He picked up a save after going 2.1 innings and giving up the two runs on three hits. Furdon was the winner for Wheaton, going 5.2 innings and giving up two runs on six hits. Hesslink took the loss for MIT after going 6.1 innings and allowing six runs, four earned, on six hits.
The two teams will play the deciding third game tomorrow at Briggs Field