CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Both MIT and Wheaton College received timely hitting and pitching today in wins by each side as the Engineers and Lyons split a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) baseball doubleheader this afternoon. MIT won the first game, 11-0, before Wheaton came back in the nightcap with a 9-4 victory. With the split, MIT remains a half game behind Wheaton in the NEWMAC East Division standings.

MIT (16-9, 12-4 NEWMAC) scored early in the first game, getting a run in the first on a leadoff home run from sophomore John Drago (Peoria, Ariz.) and then one in the second on a two-out RBI single by freshman Garrett Greenwood (Edmund, Okla.). In the third the Engineers struck for three more when they loaded the bases with one down. Senior Reid Bishop (Cypress, Texas) brought home the first run with a groundout to first before senior K.J. Parent (Knoxville, Tenn.) delivered a two-run single that made it 5-0.

That was all the run support that MIT pitching would need. MIT's starter, junior Nicholas Locascio (Naples, Fla.), picked up the win after going 6.2 innings and scattering six hits while striking out a pair. The Engineers' bullpen finished off the shutout, with senior Rob Bertucci (Belleville, Ill.) throwing 1.1 innings of hitless relief and Parent finishing things off by allowing just a single in the ninth. 

MIT put the finishing touches on in the seventh when the Engineers drew a pair of bases loaded walks before Greenwood drove in a pair with a single to left. Senior Hayden Cornwell (Newport Beach, Calif.) closed out the scoring in the eight when he lofted a two-run home run to deep center.

In game two it was Wheaton that got off to a fast start, getting a single and a walk to start the game. After a sacrifice moved the runners up, senior Apolinar De La Cruz (Providence, R.I.) swatted a double to left to score the two runs and put the Lyons up 2-0. Wheaton again loaded the bases in the fourth and took advantage when sophomore Joshua LaJoie (Somers, Conn.) lofted a sac fly to right to make it 3-0.

As MIT did in game one, Wheaton received a strong starting pitching performance. Freshman Brady Furdon (Natick, Mass.) held the Engineers offense in check for most of his 6.2 innings on the mound, picking up the win after allowing three runs on six hits. The only time he ran into trouble was in the fifth when he gave up a two-run home run to freshman Austin Filiere (Chandler, Ariz.) that closed the gap to 3-2

Wheaton answered those tallies and scored what proved to be the winning runs in the sixth, when an error and a hit batter put two on for junior Justin Silvestro (Waltham, Mass.) who slammed his first home run of the season to make it 6-2. Wheaton went on to score single runs in each of the last three innings, with juniors Jimmy Smith (Worcester, Mass.) and Mike Beneduce (North Kingstown, R.I.) and Silvestro all collecting RBIs.

MIT picked up another two-run homer from Filiere in the seventh, but the Wheaton bullpen shut the Engineers down from there. Freshman Jimmy Gowen (Brielle, N.J.) gave up the second home run by Filiere, the first batter he faced, but came back to record four straight outs. Senior Mike Bisceglia (New Boston, N.H.) retired the side in the ninth to complete the game for the Lyons.

Filiere picked up a pair of hits in both games, driving in four runs and scoring four more to lead MIT's offense. De La Cruz and Smith each collected three hits for Wheaton over the two games.

MIT will be back in action next Tuesday when it travels to Clark University for a 3:30 p.m. NEWMAC game with the Cougars. Wheaton will play again on Tuesday as well, taking on Endicott College on the road at 4:00 p.m.