PASADENA & THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – On the final day of its spring break trip to California, the MIT baseball team split a pair of games to finish the five-game swing with a 3-2 record. The Engineers got the most out of their 16 hits against Cal Tech in a 23-7 victory before falling in the second game at Cal Lutheran, 11-6. Freshman Austin Filiere (Chandler, Ariz.) had a big game against Cal Tech, driving in six runs, adding another pair of hits in the Cal Lutheran game.

At Cal Tech, MIT (4-3) scored in each of the first three innings to build a 12-2 lead and never looked back. Seniors Parker Tew (Chapel Hill, N.C.) and Hayden Cornwell (Newport Beach, Calif.) drove in runs in the first inning for a quick 2-0 lead. In the second the Engineers scored four more times, highlighted by an RBI double off the bat of sophomore John Drago (Peoria, Ariz.).

Cal Tech (2-19) came back with a pair of runs in the second, getting an RBI double from Harrison Jacobs and a run-scoring single by Daniel Chou to make it 6-2. In the top of the third the Engineers broke open the game, however, scoring six times. The big blow of the inning was a basses loaded triple by Filiere, who then scored on a base hit from Tew.

Tew, Cornwell, freshman Kevin Cuneo (Beverly, Mass.) and freshman Garrett Greenwood (Edmund, Okla.) all had multiple RBI games for MIT. Freshman Zach Michaud (Moorestown, N.J.) picked up the win in relief for MIT, giving up two runs over three innings.

Against Cal Lutheran (17-6), MIT saw the Kingsmen score in each of the first three innings to build an early 4-0 advantage. A double from Max Price in the first inning started the scoring, with Cal Lutheran adding a run in the second on a ground out and adding two more in the third on another groundout and a Collin Crowl single.

The Kingsmen broke the game open with four more runs in the sixth, highlighted by a double off the bat of Ramsey Abushahla that brought home a pair of runs. Starter Evan Peterson improved to 4-1 for Cal Lutheran, blanking MIT on five hits over his six innings of work.

A two-out error in the seventh gave MIT some extra life and the Engineers took advantage, scoring four times to cut the deficit in half. Filiere, Cornwell and junior Nate Rodman (Corvallis, Ore.) all delivered RBIs for MIT, with Rodman capping the uprising with double to right center that plated a pair. Cal Lutheran iced the game in the eighth with three runs, getting a two-run triple from Spencer DuBois. MIT closed out the scoring in the ninth, with Rodman and senior Reid Bishop (Cypress, Texas) driving in runs.

MIT will open New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference play on Saturday, playing a double header at Clark University starting at Noon.