THE BASICS:
 
- Records: MIT (18-23-1); Babson College (24-15); Wheaton College (30-10)
 
- Score: Game One: No. 5 MIT 4, No. 3 Babson College 1; Game Two: No. 1 Wheaton College 7, No. 5 MIT 2
 
- Location: Norton, Mass. (Sidell Stadium)
 
- The Lead: After defeating No. 3 seed Babson College by a 4-1 final in game one of the day, the No. 5 seeded MIT baseball team dropped a 7-2 final to top-seeded Wheaton College in the NEWMAC Championship game on Sunday afternoon at Sidell Stadium.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED WITH BABSON:
 
- The Beavers opened the scoring with a single run in the bottom of the second for the 1-0 lead. Sean Burychka reached on an infield single and stole second to move into scoring position before coming around on Jack Pirki's two-out single through the left side.
 
- MIT answered in the top of the first as sophomore Teddy Schoenfeld (Boulder, Colo.) ripped a leadoff triple to left and scored on an RBI single to center from junior Jake Sonandres (Torrance, Calif.) to tie things at 1-1.
 
- The Engineers took the lead for good in the top of the seventh as junior Graham Cartwright (La Jolla, Calif.) led off with a double to left and sophomore Michael Finch (Brentwood, Tenn.) drew a walk to put two runners on with no out. After both runners advanced on a sacrifice bunt, MIT went in front as Cartwright scored on a sacrifice fly to left by first-year Reed Tubbs (Pflugerville, Texas) for the 2-1 edge. Schoenfeld followed that with a double to left center to bring Finch around for the 3-1 lead.
 
- MIT took advantage of a wild pitch and scored an insurance run with their second sacrifice fly in as many innings to take a 4-1 margin in the eighth. Junior Kyle Sonandres (Torrance, Calif.) opened the frame with a single to left, moved to second on a ground out, scampered to third on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly driven to center field by junior Erik Anderson (Palos Verdes, Calif.) to give MIT a three-run cushion.
 
- Junior starter Matt Leonard (San Antonio, Texas) held the Beavers to just one run over seven innings, while Cartwright came on for the final two innings to secure the 4-1 final margin and a berth in the NEWMAC Championship game.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
 
- After scattering five hits with one run and seven strikeouts, Leonard moved to 2-4 overall. Cartwright's save was his second of the season as he pitched two scoreless innings with four strikeouts.
 
- Anthony St. John was the losing pitcher for the Beavers as he fell to 4-2 after giving up six hits and three runs over 6.2 innings.
 
- Schoenfeld finished with a 2-for-4 game with two extra-base hits from the leadoff spot, along with a 2-for-4 day from Kyle Sonandres.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED WITH WHEATON:
 
- MIT scored a pair of runs in the second for an early 2-0 lead in yet another must-win game. Cartwright led off the second with a walk, moved to third when Finch was hit by a pitch and was sacrificed to third with one out. After a walk from Tubbs, Cartwright scored on a wild pitch for the 1-0 lead. Finch made it 2-0 when he scored on a two-out RBI groundout from Jake Sonandres before the Lyons got out of the jam.
 
- The Lyons pulled within 2-1 in the bottom of the second with Cavan Brady scored on a wild pitch after leading off with a walk, stealing second and going to third on a groundout. Wheaton then went out in front for good in the third as Mike Maher led off with a single to right and was followed by a two-run homer to left by Jake Studley for the 3-2 margin.
 
- Stephen Quigley drove in Nick Croteau on a sacrifice fly in the fourth to make it 4-2, followed by a three-run homer in the seventh by Zach DeMattio that added some insurance and pushed the lead to 7-2.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
 
- At the plate, Schoenfeld closed out his first season for the Engineers with another two-hit outing and ends 2022 with a league-best 69 hits to go along with 19 stolen bases. In total, he finished the NEWMAC Tournament with 12 hits overall.
 
- First-year Brian Rapanan (Gurnee, Ill.) took the loss in relief for the Engineers to end the season at 1-2 as he allowed three hits on three runs with four strikeouts over four innings. Griffin Young went 6.2 innings for the Lyons to earn the win and move to 6-1 as he scattered four hits with two runs allowed and six strikeouts.
 
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