NORTON, Mass. – For a second straight year the MIT baseball team has claimed the regular season New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) championship, with the Engineers claiming the title with a doubleheader sweep of Wheaton College this afternoon. MIT needed to win both games for the championship and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming NEWMAC Tournament, and did it with wins of 3-1 and 7-4. 

Game 1

Game one turned into a pitching dual between senior Nicholas Locascio (Naples, Fla.) for MIT and Michael Bruemmel for Wheaton. Over the first two innings the pair gave up just a hit each before MIT (18-10, 14-3 NEWMAC) struck for the first run of the game in the third. Senior Kendall Helbert (St. Louis, Mo.) led off with a single and then moved over to third on a sacrifice and a ground out. Sophomore Garrett Greenwood (Edmond, Okla.) then went the opposite way with a double to left center to make it 1-0. 

Locascio and Bruemmel kept it a one-run affair over the next two innings, with each pitcher sitting down the side in order in the fourth. In the sixth the Engineers got senior Alec Echevarria (Chula Vista, Calif.) aboard with one down via an error. A single by Nate Rodman (Corvallis, Ore.) put two on for sophomore Max Lancaster (Attleboro, Mass.) who stroked a two-run double to center to make it 3-0. 

Wheaton (24-9, 13-4 NEWMAC) put their run on the board in the bottom half of the inning, getting a one-out double from Zachary Goodwin-Boyd and then a two-out, run-scoring single from Joey Santigate. That was all the Locascio would allow, however, as he went on to retire the final six hitters he faced, finishing with a line of eight innings pitched and giving the one run on seven hits. Senior Michael Wymer (Flower Mound, Texas) finished up in the ninth, hitting the first batter but coming back to retire the next three for his first save of the season.

Helbert was the only Engineer with multiple hits, going 2-for-4 with a run scored. For the Lyons Jared Sharkey was also 2-for-4. 

Game 2

After Wheaton had tied game two at 4-4 with three runs in the seventh, MIT answered with what proved to be the game-winning rally in the top of the eighth when the Engineers got all three runs back. Sophomore David Heller (Fair Lawn, N.J.) led off with a double and Helbert then reached after striking out on a wild pitch. After Helbert stole second, senior Eric Tu (San Ramon, Calif.) reached on a fielder's choice, with an error on the play allowing Heller to score. One batter later Greenwood singled home the second run of the inning, with the Engineers going on to load the bases with one out for Echevarria whose fielder's choice brought home the third run of the inning.

MIT starter, David Hesslink (San Diego, Calif.) held Wheaton off the board in the eighth and Wymer came in to finish it with a 1-2-3 ninth to secure the win. Hesslink improved to 5-2 on the season with eight innings of work, allowing eight hits and four unearned runs while striking out three.

Echevarria, who drove in three runs without a hit, brought in the first MIT run in the first inning with a bases loaded walk. Wheaton matched in the second when an error led to an unearned run for the Lyons.

A walk and a single to open the fourth put two on for MIT, with a sacrifice putting both runners in scoring position. Helbert then reached on a fielder's choice play to bring in one run, with junior John Drago (Peoria, Ariz.) coming up with a two-out base hit to left to make it 3-1. 

A sacrifice fly by Echevarria scored Drago in the seventh to make it 4-1, but Wheaton came up with three runs in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game. The Lyons loaded the bases with no outs on an error and two singles for Tyler Walsh, who grounded out to third to bring in one run. Hesslink picked up the next out without a run scoring, but Mike Beneduce stroked a hit to center to plate two runs and tie the contest, setting up MIT's three-run eighth.

Greenwood led MIT with a 3-for-5 game at the plate with one RBI. Drago was also 3-for-5 for the Engineers, scoring twice. Justin Silvestro and Matt Lavanchy both were 2-for-4 for Wheaton, with Silvestro scoring twice and Lavanchy once. Brady Furdon started for Wheaton and went 6.2 innings, allowing six hits and four runs.

MIT will be back on the field on Tuesday when it travels to Western New England University for a non-conference game starting at 4:00 p.m.