CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – MIT sent 10 hitters to the plate in the bottom of the fifth inning, breaking open a tie game with six runs and lift the Engineers to a 9-2 nonconference baseball victory over Brandeis University this afternoon. Every starter for MIT had at least one hit as the Engineers put up 14 hits on the scoreboard. Brandeis had 11 hits, but stranded nine runners on the base paths.
After both teams scored a run in the fourth, MIT (10-10) broke open the game in the bottom of the fifth. The first four hitters to the plate all collected hits, with senior Torre Swanson (Redding, Calif.) starting things off with a double. Sophomore Jon Rea (Palo Alto, Calif.) broke the tie with a single up the middle before another single by freshman Reid Bishop (Cypress, Texas) put two aboard. Rea was picked off second for the first out of the inning, but freshman Parker Tew (Chapel Hill, N.C.) tripled to deep left to make it 3-1. Senior Bryan Macomber (Los Altos, Calif.) then executed a squeeze play to make it 4-1. The Engineers went on to three more times, all on two-out RBI hits, to take a 7-1 lead.
Brandeis (5-21) tried to come back in the top of the sixth, getting a leadoff double from Pat Nicholson (Walpole, Mass.). MIT starter, freshman K.J. Parent (Knoxville, Tenn.) came back to retire the next two hitters before senior Joe Galli (Wakefield, Mass.) delivered an RBI single to center. Freshman Phil Reiser (Alpharetta, Ga.) then came on in relief of Parent and gave up a walk to load the bases, but got out of the jam by getting a fielder's choice ground ball to short to end the threat.
MIT scored its final two runs in the sixth on an RBI single by Tew and a sacrifice fly from sophomore Creed Mangrum (Sandy, Utah). Swanson and junior Henry Zhu (Overland Park, Kan.) combined to pitch the final three innings for MIT, holding the Judges to just one hit the rest of the way to ice the game for the Engineers.
Brandeis scored first in the contest, getting a leadoff single in the fourth from freshman Brian Allen (Salem, N.H.), who moved to second when the MIT center fielder could not field the ball cleanly. After getting sacrificed over to third, junior Pat Seaward (York, Maine) brought Allen in with a single to center. MIT matched it in the bottom half of the inning, getting an RBI single from junior Ricardo Perez (Vienna, Va.) that followed a double by Mangrum to left.
Parent picked up the win, scattering 10 hits over 5.2 innings, but surrendering only two runs. Brandeis starter, senior Alex Tynan (Barnegat, N.J.) was tagged with the loss after giving up five runs on seven hits over 4.2 innings. Seaward and senior Zach Malis (Merrick, N.Y.) each had a pair of hits to lead the Judges.
MIT resume NEWMAC conference play with a game at Springfield College on Friday beginning at 3:30 p.m. Brandeis will play on the road again tomorrow, traveling to Rhode Island College for a 3:30 p.m. contest.