NORTHBOROUGH, Mass. – The MIT baseball team hit four home runs and collected 20 hits in a 21-7 NEWMAC victory over Emerson on Tuesday afternoon at the New England Baseball Complex. Senior Malachi Soqui (Castaic, Calif.) homered for the fifth time in five games, finishing the game 3-for-5 with eight RBIs, including a bases clearing double in the top of the seventh inning.
Graduate student Teddy Schoenfeld (Boulder, Colo.) scored four of MIT's season-high 21 runs, as he became the program's all-time leader in runs scored with 150, eclipsing Garrett Greenwood's ('18) mark of 149.
THE BASICS:
- Score: MIT 21, Emerson 7
- Records: MIT (15-16 Overall, 10-4 NEWMAC), Emerson (8-20 Overall, 2-12 NEWMAC)
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- MIT scored in each of the first four innings, posting five runs in the top of the first thanks to home runs from Soqui and first year John Spivey (Saint Louis, Mo.). Spivey got MIT on the board first, lifting a two-run home run to left center after Schoenfeld opened the game with a double. Junior Zev Moore (Jerusalem, Israel) reached with a single before senior Reed Tubbs (Pflugerville, Texas) was hit by a pitch with one out. That set the stage for Soqui, as the senior lifted a three run home run to center to make the score 5-0.
- Emerson got a pair of runs back in the home half of the inning thanks to a two-run home run from Braeden O'Connell (Boxford, Mass.) that made the score 5-2. The Lions also scored in the bottom of the second inning, pushing across a pair of runs on an error and a sacrifice fly, but not before MIT added two runs in the top half of the inning thanks to a two-run home run from Zev Moore.
- With MIT leading 7-4, the visitors added two more to their tally in the third, courtesy of a two-run blast from sophomore Jack Finnegan (Essex, Conn.).
- MIT also scored twice in the top of the fourth inning, moving ahead 11-4 as Tubbs scored on an error and sophomore John Dwyer (Northport, N.Y.) singled to score Soqui later in the inning.
- It looked liked both teams would move through a scoreless fifth inning until the Lions got a pair of runs on an MIT error with two outs in the bottom of the inning.
- Both teams went 1-2-3 in the sixth inning, with Emerson continuing to trail, 11-6.
- MIT extended its lead in the top of the seventh, loading the bases with a pair of singles off the bats of Schoenfeld and Moore and a walk to CJ McCarthy (Pawling, N.Y.). With two away in the inning, Soqui emptied the bases with a double down the left field line to make the score 14-6.
- An RBI single from grad student Chris Ferrara (Coral Springs, Fla.) helped Emerson get back a run in the bottom of the seventh but MIT continued to lead 14-7 as the game moved to the eighth inning.
- MIT left no doubt in the top of the eighth inning, scoring seven more runs to move ahead 21-7 and end the game in eight innings. Spivey drove in a run with a bases loaded walk, while McCarthy and Soqui each recorded RBI doubles in the inning as MIT cruised to its tenth conference win of the season.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- MIT has now hit 37 home runs on the season, one away from the team season record of 38 set during the 2015 season.
- MIT's 21 runs are the most for the program since they beat Emerson 22-4 in 2019.
- Finnegan's home run in the third was the first of his collegiate career.
- Schoenfeld has 222 career hits and is now five short of tying Greenwood's program record of 227.
- MIT opener Mathew Spenner (Darien, Conn.) pitched two inning, striking out four while giving up three walks, four runs, three earned. Senior Brian Rapanan (Gurnee, Ill.) came on in relief and went the distance for his fourth win of the season (4-1). Rapanan pitched 6.0 inning giving up four hits while striking out seven.
- Sophomore Tyler Metcalf (Louisville, KY) went the first 2.1 innings for Emerson, giving up eight runs, all earned, to drop to 1-1 on the season.
UP NEXT:
- MIT will host No. 3 Endicott in non-conference play tomorrow afternoon at Fran O'Brien Field.
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