WORCESTER, Mass. — Maximo Del Pino and Eitan Moore hit back-to-back home runs as part of a four-run second inning as the MIT baseball team went on to defeat WPI, 14-4, in seven innings in NEWMAC action on Saturday afternoon at Clark University's Granger Athletic Complex.
THE BASICS:
- Game One: MIT 14, WPI 4 (7 inn.)
- Game Two: Postponed, make-up date TBD
- Records: MIT (5-10 Overall, 2-0 NEWMAC); WPI (9-7 Overall, 0-3 NEWMAC)
HOW IT HAPPENED - Game One:
- MIT surged to a 5-0 lead before WPI got on the board in the game. Owen Malone lifted a bases loaded sacrifice fly to left to score Dalton Chi in the top of the first inning. WPI starter Luke Blandino was able to limit the damage in the first, but the Engineers got to him in the second inning.
- With one out in the second, Del Pino took the first pitch of the at-bat out to left. Moore then followed in identical fashion, lifting the first pitch he saw over the left field fence. Dalton Chi followed with a single and Jack Finnegan and Eitan Moore both reached-on walks before Chi scored on a wild pitch and Finnegan scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Joey Severson to make the score 5-0.
- MIT starter Matthew Spenner worked through the first five innings to earn the victory. Spenner gave up nine hits and four earned runs but saw plenty of run support to stay in control and earn his second win of the season (2-1).
- WPI got on run back in the bottom of the second, but MIT added three more in the third and dix more in the fourth to pull away. Chi and Finnegan did the damage in the third, with Chi delivering a two-RBI double and Finnegan driving in Chi with a single to center to make the score 8-1.
- Jacob Wiberg hit a two-RBI single for WPI in the bottom of the third to make the score 8-3 but MIT took control of the game with six runs in the top of the fourth inning.
- Malone doubled to lead off the fourth and advanced to third on a passed ball before scoring on a John Dwyer RBI single. Dwyer moved to third on a one-out single from Del Pino and both later scored when Chi reached base on an error. Chi scored on an RBI double from Finnegan that made the score 12-3. Zev Moore then capped the rally with a two-run home run to left center that put MIT out in front of 14-3.
- WPI got one run back in the bottom of the inning as a Liam Keblin RBI double made the score 14-4.
- Spenners's day ended after the bottom of the fifth when got an inning ending 6-4-3 double play to retire the side.
- Chase Rubin came on and worked his way around a pair of walks and error to pitch 2.0 scoreless innings as the Engineers closed out the 14-4 victory in seven innings.
HOW IT HAPPENED - Game Two:
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Del Pino and Moore each hit the first home run of their respective careers.
- Spenner matched his career-high with 5.0 innings pitched in his second straight start. Nine of ten strikeouts this season have come over his last two appearances.
- Rubin leads the staff with 19.0 innings pitched, 17 strikeouts and a 4.36 ERA.
- Chi finished the contest 3-for-5 at the plate and shows no signs of slowing down in his first collegiate season. He has already collected 25 hits in 55 at-bats and is hitting a blistering .455 with a .544 on-base percentage at the top of the MIT lineup.
- Zev Moore collected his first three-hit game of the season. After a somewhat slow start to the season, the All-Region infielder now has nine hits in his past six games.
UP NEXT:
- MIT will play Emerson for the second time this season on Tuesday at 3:30 PM at the New England Baseball Complex in Northborough, Mass.
- The Engineers cruised to a 17-2 victory in seven innings in the first match-up between the teams on March 24.
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