THE BASICS:
- Location: Springfield, Mass. (Archie Allen Field)
- Records: No. 4 MIT (15-19); No. 5 Springfield College (14-20-1)
- Score: No. 4 MIT 14, No. 5 Springfield College 2
- The Lead: In the first round of the 2023 NEWMAC Tournament, the No. 4 seeded MIT baseball team used a 15-hit offensive attack and excellent pitching to come away with a 14-2 victory over No. 5 seeded Springfield College. The Engineers now advance to the double-elimination of the tournament, which is being held this weekend at Wheaton College in Norton, Mass.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Springfield took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when Ryan Sorgi's sacrifice fly to center brought in Joe Traversa for the lead. The Engineers answered in the bottom of the second when first-year Zev Moore (Jerusalem, Israel) doubled to center to lead off the inning and came home on an RBI groundout from first-year Owen Malone (Portsmouth, R.I.).
- The score remained that way until the bottom of the fourth when MIT pounded out nine hits and scored 10 runs to go in front big at 11-1. The Engineers had four extra-base hits in the frame, including RBI doubles to right center from junior Teddy Schoenfeld (Boulder, Colo.) and senior Graham Cartwright (La Jolla, Calif.). MIT finished the scoring in the inning with back-to-back home runs by Moore and junior Kennan Gumbs (New York, N.Y.) to push the margin to 10-1.
- The Engineers added single runs in the fifth, seventh and eighth innings, while the pitching duo of senior Matt Leonard (San Antonio, Texas) and first-year Chase Rubin (Arlington, Va.) held the Pride to just two runs on the day.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Moore and Gumbs each finished with three hits on the day, with Moore scoring three and driving in two to go along with two runs and two runs batted in from Gumbs. Schoenfeld went 2-for-3 with three runs batted in and two walks, while senior Kyle Sonandres (Torrance, Calif.) was 2-for-3 with two runs batted in and two walks.
- The entire starting lineup recorded at least one hit for Springfield, led by a 2-for-4 day by Cadin Maynard.
- Leonard earned the win for MIT as he moved to 1-1 on the season, pitching 5.2 innings with two runs allowed on five hits with two strikeouts. Rubin earned his second save of the year after scattering four hits over 3.1 scoreless innings pitched with three strikeouts. Blake Roberge took the loss for the Pride, falling to 2-3 overall after he allowed six runs over 3.1 innings and walked five Engineers.
UP NEXT:
- MIT is back in action on Saturday, May 6th as the Engineers travel to top-seeded and No. 8 ranked Wheaton College for the first game of the double-elimination portion of the tournament. That game gets underway at Noon in Norton, Mass.
STAY CONNECTED:
- For the latest on MIT Athletics, follow the Engineers via social media on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.