Box Score THE BASICS:
- Records: MIT (2-3); Western New England (0-2)
- Scores: MIT 10, Western New England 8
- Location: Northborough, Mass. (New England Baseball Complex - Field 1)
- The Lead: Behind a pair of home runs from sophomore Matt Johnston (Portola Valley, Calif.), the MIT baseball team rallied from an early 7-1 deficit to come away with a 10-8 win over Western New England University on a blustery Saturday morning at the New England Baseball Complex.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- The Golden Bears struck for two runs in the first as Kevin Johnson reached on a leadoff walk and later scored on a two-out wild pitch. Alex Loparco also scored an unearned run for the second run of the game. WNE added three more runs in the seconds with a Loparco RBI double down the left field line and a two-RBI single from Jared Rosenblatt as all three runs were unearned.
- MIT got on the board in the bottom of the second after senior Max Lancaster (Attleboro, Mass.) reached base on a leadoff walk and scored on a two-out single to left by freshman Zach Roberts (West Chester, Pa.). The Golden Bears countered right back in the top of the third though with another big hit by Loparco as his two-RBI single to center also came with two outs for the 7-1 advantage.
- The Engineer offense kept up the two-out production in the bottom of the fourth with three runs to close within 7-4. Senior Garrett Greenwood (Edmond, Okla.) drove in a run with a single to right center, while both Greenwood and Roberts scored later in the frame. Sophomore catcher Thomas Allison (Kingwood, Texas) scored on a wild pitch in the fifth, followed by the first of two homers from Johnston in the sixth to tie the game at 7-7. Senior David Heller (Fair Lawn, N.J.) reached on a fielder's choice before scoring on Johnston's homer to right center.
- WNE briefly regained the lead in the top of the eighth on a leadoff homer to left from Erik Lacaire before MIT put the game away with a three-run bottom of the inning. Johnston tied the game with a one-out home run to right, while the Engineers surged in front on RBI singles by senior Kyler Kocher (Mesa, Ariz.) and freshman Ethan Rolland (Burke, Va.).
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Lancaster was 3-for-4 with two runs scored, while Johnston was 2-for-5 with two home runs, three RBI and two runs scored. For the Golden Bears, Loparco combined for four hits, five RBI and two runs scored.
- On the mound for MIT, sophomore Zachary Kopstein (Tiburon, Calif.) went five strong innings of relief with five strikeouts to settle down the Engineer staff. Freshman Adam Katz (Mt. Kisco, N.Y.) earned the win by throwing the last 1.2 innings, improving to 1-1 as he scattered three walks with three strikeouts and no hits. For WNE, Kevin Hummer dropped to 0-1 as he allowed five runs on seven hits with six strikeouts in four innings.
UP NEXT:
- MIT is back in action on Saturday, March 17th as the Engineers host Bates College for a non-conference doubleheader beginning at Noon.
STAY CONNECTED:
- For the latest on MIT Athletics, follow the Engineers via social media on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
