PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Grad student CJ McCarthy (Pawling, N.Y.) hit a walk-off two-run homer in a 7-5 come-from-behind game one win against Wheaton and junior Chase Rubin (Arlington, Va.) twirled 6.2 solid innings in an 8-2 game two victory over Coast Guard to send the MIT baseball team to the NEWMAC Championship against Salve Regina on Sunday.
Grad student Teddy Schoenfeld (Boulder, Colo.) finished the day with six hits, moving his career total to 233 and surpassing Garrett Greenwood's ('18) record of 227 to become MIT's all-time program leader in hits. Schoenfeld will look to add to his total on Sunday as the Engineers will be in search of the program's fourth NEWMAC Championship and first since 2019.
THE BASICS:
- Game 1: MIT 7, Wheaton 5
- Game 2: MIT 8, Coast Guard 2
- Records: MIT (19-19), Wheaton (22-19), Coast Guard (26-14)
HOW IT HAPPENED – vs. WHEATON:
- Wheaton jumped out to a 4-0 lead over the Engineers with starter Aiden Cardoza (Dartmouth, Mass.) allowing just two MIT base runners through the first five innings.
- Timmy Wagner (Hingham, Mass.) led off the fourth with a double and came across to score on a single up the middle by Shawn Cali (East Taunton, Mass.). Nick Giangregorio (Belmont, Mass.) later lifted a fly ball to left to plate the second Wheaton run.
- Robbie Lamond (North Kingstown, R.I.) singled to left to lead off the fifth and scored on a double to left center off the bat of Casey Wensley (Raynham, Mass.). Wensley advanced to third on a ground out and came around to score on a Kevin Matos (Lawrence, Mass.) single to right to make it 4-0.
- Schoenfeld laced a one-out double to center to get into scoring position for first year John Spivey (Saint Louis, Mo.) who singled him home for the first Engineer run of the day in the bottom of the sixth.
- Wheaton got the run back in the seventh as Matos, who doubled to lead off the inning, scored on a sac fly by Ray Toth (Granby, Mass.) to take a 5-1 lead.
- MIT put together three-straight singles to open the bottom of the seventh, with the senior Reed Tubbs (Pflugerville, Texas) scoring off the John Dwyer (Northport, N.Y.) single to left. An error loaded the bases for MIT and Owen Malone (Portsmouth, R.I.) flied out to right to score senior Malachi Soqui (Castaic, Calif.) and cut the Lyons' lead to 5-3.
- Zev Moore (Jerusalem, Israel) made it a one-run game with a solo shot in the bottom of the eighth.
- With MIt trailing 5-4, Tyler Godfrey (Rowley, Mass.) led off the ninth with a single and pinch runner Eitan Moore (Jerusalem, Israel) went to second on a sac bunt from Malone. Schoenfeld then singled home Eitan Moore to tie the game at five. After Schoenfeld was caught stealing, Spivey was hit by a pitch to bring up McCarthy who lifted the pitch from Josh Fischer (Hopkinton, Mass.) over the wall for the come-from-behind walk-off win.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Cole Foster (Austin, Texas) went the first four innings allowing two runs on four hits with two strikeouts and three walks. Senior Brian Rapanan (Gurnee, Ill.) earned his fifth win of season, as he tossed the final five innings allowing two runs on nine hits with two walks and two Ks.
- Cardoza went six for Wheaton giving up three runs on five hits with five strikeouts and two walks. Fisher took his first loss of the year as he went 1.2 innings giving up four runs on five hits.
- Schoenfeld led MIT with three hits from the lead-off spot. McCarthy launched his sixth homer of the season and collected his 25th RBI of the year.
- Matos led Wheaton, going 4-5 on the day.
HOW IT HAPPENED – vs. COAST GUARD:
- Three straight singles with two outs allowed the Engineers to jump out to a 2-0 lead in the second. Malone's single to left-center plated Godfrey and Jack Finnegan (Essex, Conn.).
- Coast Guard had runners on second and third with one out in the third, but Rubin got a strikeout and fly out to get out of the jam.
- Schoenfeld knocked in two more runs with a single to center in the fourth, but the Bears got on the board in the bottom of the inning on a solo shot from Wyatt Duthu (Madison, Ala.).
- The Bears got another run across on a single to center from Carson Cho (Haymarket, Va.) but senior Phillip Hood (Grapevine, Texas) came in and got the final out.
- MIT plated three runs in the eighth to pull ahead 7-2. Schoenfeld singled to score Finnegan for the fifth run for MIT. The Engineers loaded the bases for Tubbs whose sac fly made it 6-2 and Soqui followed with a single down the right field line to make it a five-run Engineer lead.
- Hood got the Bears in order in the eighth, and Schoenfeld tacked on an insurance run in the ninth with a single. Hood then got three fly outs in the bottom of the ninth to send the Engineers to the Championship round.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Rubin earned his fourth win of the season with a career-high 6.2 innings of work. He allowed two runs on five hits. He fanned five Seahawk batters and allowed just one walk.
- Hood recorded his sixth save as he threw a perfect final 2.1 innings.
- Schoenfeld and Godfrey led MIT with three hits apiece in the game.
UP NEXT:
- MIT will play host and top-seed Salve Regina beginning tomorrow at 11:00 AM.
- The Engineers will need to beat the Seahawks twice to claim the NEWMAC Championship.
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