AUBURN, N.Y. – Junior Greg Echeverria went all nine innings on the mound and the Rensselaer Polytechnic  Institute (RPI) baseball team pounded out 16 hits to beat SUNY Old Westbury, 12-2, in NCAA Tournament play at Falcon Park. With the win, the Engineers improve to 28-15, while the Panthers drop to 26-12.

RPI advances to a winners bracket meeting with nationally first-ranked SUNY Cortland on Friday (4:30pm), while Old Westbury must play an elimination game against Oberlin (1:15pm). The Engineers are 2-0 in a regional for the sixth time in school history and the first time since 2009.

The Engineers took advantage of an Old Westbury fielding error in the top of the 2nd to take a 1-0 lead. With senior Nick Palmiero (Patterson, NY/Carmel) on third and two away, sophomore Matt Lawrence (Chicago, IL/University of Chicago High School) hit a grounder to third that was mishandled, allowing Palmiero to come home.

A steal of home – the first of two on the day – tied the game in the bottom of the 3rd. With two outs in the inning, seniors Nick Yip (Elmhurst, NY/Herricks) and Jacob Coners (Seldon, NY/Newfield) each took off from first and third respectively. The throw from Echeverria (Longmeadow, MA/Longmeadow) went to first and Coners beat the ensuing throw home to make it 1-1.

Rensselaer regained the lead in the top of the 4th, plating two runs on four hits. Senior Tim LeSuer (Oak View, CA/Nordoff) doubled to the gap in left center to open the frame, moving to third on a fly out to right. After a strikeout, sophomore Jason Ramos (Brooklyn, NY/Xaverian) laced a single up the middle to score LeSuer for a 2-1 advantage. Lawrence and junior catcher Mike Croke (South Hadley, MA/South Hadley) also delivered two-out singles for a 3-1 lead.

Senior centerfielder Jonathan Pagan (Westbury, NY/Hicksville) reached on a fielder's choice in the bottom of the frame and stole second, before moving to third on a groundout. He then swiped home on a close play at the plate, drawing within 3-2.

That was as close as the Panthers got the rest of the way, as RPI put up five runs in the 5th, chasing Old Westbury starting pitcher Tyler Kapela (Mineola, NY/Holy Trinity) after just 4.1 innings. The Engineers benefitted from four walks in the inning, including two with the bases loaded. Senior Shane Matthews(Ballston Spa, NY/Saratoga Catholic) capped the rally with a two-run double down the left field line.

RPI added a run in the 7th, to take a 9-2 lead. A single and a walk were followed by a fly out, putting runners on first and second with one away. A walk to senior Tyler Listing (West Sand Lake, NY/Averill Park) loaded the bases for classmate Jared Jensen (Kingston, NY/Kingston), who lifted a sacrifice fly to center.

A three-run top of the 9th completed the scoring for the Engineers, who finished just two hits shy of the school's NCAA Tournament game record of 18, set in 2006 against Centenary. Listing and Jensen each had RBI-singles in the inning, before Echeverria came on for a perfect bottom half.

Echeverria, who allowed two runs (1 earned) on seven hits, becomes just the fourth RPI pitcher throw a complete game in NCAA Tournament play. Travis Teeter '02 and Max Miller '04 were the most recent to do so in 2002.

Jensen, LeSuer and Palmiero each finished with three hits, while Ramos and Lawrence both had two. LeSuer extended his season-long hitting streak to 10 games. Echeverria is now tied with Jensen for the team lead in both wins (7) and complete games (6).