CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – UMass Boston broke open a close game with three runs in the six and seventh and went on to defeat MIT, 15-4, in non-conference baseball action this afternoon. Junior Dave Murphy (Plymouth, Mass.) had three hits and drove in four runs for the Beacons while three UMass Boston pitchers held the Engineers to five hits in the win.

It was a well-pitched game over the first five innings with just one run being scored. That came in the bottom of the second when MIT (19-11) put a run on the scoreboard without the benefit of a hit. Senior Alec Echevarria (Chula Vista, Calif.) led off and was hit by a pitch. He then stole second, moved up on a fielder's choice, and scored on a groundout by sophomore David Heller (Fair Lawn, N.J.).

That was the only damage that UMass Boston starter, sophomore Bryan Kaufman (Farmingdale, N.Y.) would allow in his five innings on the mound. He gave up just three hits, struck out three and walked a pair, picking up the victory to improve to 4-3 on the season. MIT starter, freshman Zeke Long (Albuquerque, N.M.), was just as good over the first five innings, blanking the Beacons on just a pair of hits.

Long picked up the first two outs in the sixth, but then gave up an infield single followed by an RBI double by Ryan Olivo (Rochester, N.Y.) that tied the game. That hit knocked Long out of the game, and UMass Boston then greeted the the MIT bullpen with an RBI double by junior Anthony Searles (Shelton, Conn.) and a run-scoring single from freshman Kyle Boudrias (Medford, Mass.) to make it 3-1.

UMass Boston (21-12) never trailed again. In the seventh the Beacons struck for three more runs when Murphy parked a pitch over the fence in left that made it a 6-1 game. MIT got one of the runs back in the bottom half of the inning when sophomore Garrett Greenwood (Edmund, Okla.) doubled, stole second and came in to score on a wild pitch.

An RBI single by sophomore Lionel Danielson (St. Croix, Virgin Islands) got the run back for UMass Boston in the eighth before the Beacons erupted for eight runs in the ninth, culminated by bases clearing, three-run double by freshman Nick Herzog (Riverhead, N.Y.) to put the game out of reach.

Murphy finished 3-for-5 with four RBI and four runs scored to lead a 14-hit UMass Boston offense. Boudrias also banged out three hits for the Beacons. For MIT Greenwood was the only hitter with multiple hits for the Engineers, going 2-for-5.

Next up for MIT will be the semifinals of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) tournament. The No. 1 seed, the Engineers will host No. 4 seed Babson College in a doubleheader on Saturday to open the best of three series, with first pitch coming at Noon. UMass Boston will also play a doubleheader at Noon on Saturday, as it travels to Plymouth State in Little East Conference play.