THE BASICS:
 
- Records: MIT (9-16-1, 4-6 NEWMAC); WPI (12-14, 2-8 NEWMAC)
 
- Score: MIT 7, WPI 6
 
- Location: Northborough, Mass. (New England Baseball Complex)
 
- The Lead: Led by a pair of home runs by junior Kyle Sonandres (Torrance, Calif.), the MIT baseball team held off a late rally by WPI on Wednesday afternoon as the Cambridge Engineers defeated the Worcester Engineers in a 7-6 final.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 
- Sophomore Teddy Schoenfeld (Boulder, Colo.) led off the game with a single up the middle as Sonandres followed that with a two-run homer for the early lead. MIT added a third run when first-year Malachi Soqui (Castaic, Calif.) scored on a sacrifice fly by junior Erik Anderson (Palos Verdes, Calif.) to make it a 3-0 margin.
 
- WPI got on the board with two outs in the bottom of the first when Dylan Connor scored on a wild pitch. After Martin McCormack walked, Michael Fraser followed with a three-run home run to put the hosts in front, 4-3, in a 32-minute first inning.
 
- Sonandres tied the game at 4-4 with two out in the top of the second and the score remained that way until the top of the sixth as junior Graham Cartwright (La Jolla, Calif.) pitched five innings for MIT.
 
- MIT went in front for good in the top of the sixth as senior Nick Aiello (Freehold, N.J.) led off with a solo homer, along with a Brian Rapanan (Gurnee, Ill.) sacrifice fly that scored sophomore Michael Finch (Brentwood, Tenn.) and a wild pitch that scored Anderson for the 7-4 score.
 
- Sophomore Saketh Gabbita (Ashburn, Va.) came on in relief for MIT in the sixth and threw 2.2 innings. Jacob Hand scored for WPI on an Andrew Brooks single to center that made it a 7-5 score and chased Gabbita from the game. First-year Ajinkya Gundaria (Alpharetta, Ga.) came on with two outs in the eighth and struck out Connor looking to get out of the jam.
 
- In the ninth, Fraser scored on a wild pitch with two outs to cut the margin to just one run before Gundaria struck out DJ Brooks looking to end the game.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
 
- Cartwright moved to 4-2 on the season as he scattered four hits with eight strikeouts over five innings. Gabbita allowed three hits with one run and four strikeouts over 2.2 innings, along with 1.1 innings from Gundaria as he secured the victory and his first save of the year.
 
- Everett Wonson took the loss for WPI and is now 1-4 overall after allowing nine hits and five runs over five innings. In four innings, the WPI relievers allowed just three hits and two runs with a pair of strikeouts.
 
- Offensively, MIT was led by two hits each from Schoenfeld, Kyle Sonandres, Aiello and Rapanan. For WPI, three players had two hits each as they were led by two hits, two runs scored and three runs batted in by Fraser.
 
UP NEXT:
 
- MIT is back in action on Friday, April 22nd as the Engineers host Babson College for a single NEWMAC game beginning at 3:30 p.m.
 
STAY CONNECTED:
 
- For the latest on MIT Athletics, follow the Engineers via social media on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.