Cambridge, MA -- Trailing by 10 in the fifth inning, MIT scored 12 unanswered runs to upend the visiting WPI baseball team 15-13 in a NEWMAC match-up Tuesday at Fran O'Brien Field. The Worcester Engineers fall to 15-18, 4-9 NEWMAC while the Cambridge squad runs its record to 11-16 overall, 6-7 in conference play.
Teddy Schoenfeld (Boulder, CO) led MIT with a 4-for-4 performance at the plate, driving in two runs and scoring three while hitting his fourth homerun of the season. Graham Cartwright (La Jolla, CA) finished with three hits, three runs, and two RBI, while Zev Moore (Jerusalem, Israel) and Lawrence Tang (Hopkinton, MA) each drove in two runs. Ben Burke (Chelmsford, MA) got the win in relief, going five innings, allowing one run on three hits with 13 strikeouts.
For WPI, Jacob Hand (Niskayuna, NY) was 3-for-4 with two runs scored, while Kyle Johns (Milltown, NJ) and Kyle DeRoma (Dracut, MA) each had two hits and three RBI. Jonathan Lattimer (Windsor, CT) and Liam Keblin (Newton, MA) also added two RBI each. On the hill, Eric DePiero (Beverly, MA) was tagged with the loss, throwing two-thirds of an inning in relief, allowing six runs on seven hits.
A busy first inning saw the teams combine for seven runs, as WPI jumped out to a 4-3 lead. In the top of the inning, Johns got the scoring started with a double that plated Jeffrey Brennan (Amsterdam, NY) and Tommy Burns (Morris Plains, NJ). Johns was sent home on a DeRoma single, while Lattimer made it 4-0 WPI with another single that scored DeRoma.
MIT closed the gap with three runs in the bottom of the frame. Schoenfeld singled and scored on a throwing error before a Cartwright doubled to score Kyle Sonandres (Torrance, CA). Kennan Gumbs (New York, NY) reached on a throwing error, which scored Cartwright to set it to 4-3 before WPI got out of the inning.
Burns and Hand manufactured another WPI run in the top of the second. After back-to-back singles, Hand stole second and Burns scored on the throw to make it 5-3.
Two more runs from the Worcester squad in the top of the third pushed the advantage to 7-3. Lattimer drove in a run on a fielder's choice, while Burns worked a walk with the bases loaded before back-to-back strikeouts ended the frame.
WPI's offense kept rolling in the fifth, tacking on six more runs to open up a 13-3 lead. Keblin drove in a pair on a single up the middle and later scored on a wild pitch. A Johns single sent another across the plate and DeRoma added a bases-clearing double to make it a six-run inning.
Trailing by 10, MIT began to chip away, starting with a four-run bottom of the fifth. Back-to-back-to-back doubles off the bats of Cartwright, Moore, and Phillip Hood (Grapevine, TX) accounted for the first three runs of the frame, while a Tang single to left closed the gap to 13-7.
MIT took its first lead of the game with another big inning, putting up seven runs in the bottom of the sixth. A two-run homer from Schoenfeld got things started while runs also scored on a Moore single and a Tang fielder's choice that closed the gap to 13-12. A fielding error then tied the game at 13-13 before Reed Tubbs (Pflugerville, TX) laced a double to center to put the Cambridge squad on top, 14-13.
MIT added an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh scoring on an RBI single from Sonandres to make it 15-13. Burke then struck out seven of the final nine WPI batters he faced, finishing out the victory.
WPI will play tomorrow at Johnson & Wales at 6pm, while MIT hosts Amherst tomorrow at 4pm.