THE BASICS:
- Records: MIT (7-5-1); No. 5 Cal Lutheran (16-5)
- Score: MIT 10, No. 5 Cal Lutheran 6
- Location: Thousand Oaks, Calif. (Sparky Anderson Field)
- The Lead: Led by a seven-run sixth inning, the MIT baseball team ended its six-game California trip with a 10-6 win over No. 5 Cal Lutheran on Thursday afternoon at Sparky Anderson Field. The Engineers finished the West Coast swing at 4-2 following today's win that snapped Cal Lutheran's six-game winning streak.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- The Kingsmen got on the board with three runs in the bottom of the second to stake to an early 3-0 lead and the score remained that way until the top of the sixth. MIT put up seven runs in the sixth, using six hits and a CLU error to go in front. Sophomore Ethan Rolland (Burke, Va.) drew a bases-loaded walk to score sophomore Andrew Krause (St. Louis, Mo.) to plate the first run. Junior Thomas Allison (Kingwood, Texas) scored on a wild pitch, followed by RBI doubles from senior Jared Schwait (Boca Raton, Fla.) and first-year Cory O'Shea (Glen Allen, Va.) to make it 5-3.
- Junior Matt Johnston (Portola Valley, Calif.) singled through the right side to score O'Shea, followed by a Krause double to center to bring in Johnston for the 7-3 edge. Ryan Probst scored Wright with two outs in the bottom of the sixth as the hosts cut the lead down to 7-4. A great diving catch in front of the CLU dugout by Schwait ended the inning though and sent the Engineers back to the plate.
- MIT countered with a three-run frame to push the lead to 10-4 as the Engineers had a pair of hits and capitalized on an error. Schwait drew a bases-loaded walk for one run, followed by a sacrifice fly from O'Shea and an RBI single by Johnston. The back-and-forth game continued in the bottom of the seventh as the Kingsmen added two to move within 10-6 heading to the final two innings.
- Sophomore Tommy Hannan (San Marino, Calif.) went two innings and allowed just one hit to earn the win, while Allison threw the ninth inning to close out the victory.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Junior Tony Rice (Colorado Springs, Colo.) got the start for the Engineers, going two innings with three walks and three strikeouts. Scott Roberts started for the Kingsmen and went five innings with five hits allowed, three runs, two walks and eight strikeouts in the no-decision. Clay Rickerman took the loss in 0.2 innings of relief, allowing four run and four hits while falling to 1-1.
- Schwait finished 2-for-4 with three RBI and two walks, while Johnston, Krause, Allison and senior Alec Kushner (Cooper City, Fla.) all had two hits apiece. Overall, MIT outhit the Kingsmen 11-8 that included four extra-base hits.
- Wright led the Cal Lutheran offense with a 2-for-6 outing with three RBI in the leadoff spot. Ryne Yamashiro and Daniel Parr also had two hits each, while Yamashiro also drew a game-high three walks.
- Cal Lutheran is ranked No. 5 in this week's ABCA Division III National Poll and No. 10 in the D3Baseball.com National Poll.
UP NEXT:
- MIT opens NEWMAC play on Saturday, March 30th as the Engineers travel to Springfield College for a doubleheader beginning at Noon.
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