Worcester, Mass. – The Engineers of MIT used a 4-run 7th inning to overtake the Worcester State University Lancers and went on to post a, 9-6, victory in non-conference baseball action Tuesday afternoon at Lyons Diamond. The loss drops the Lancers to, 17-16, on the year while MIT improved to 15-21-1.
MIT opened the scoring with a pair of runs in the top of the first inning on an RBI single by Erik Anderson (Palos Verdes, Calif.) and a second run off of a wild pitch.
The Engineers added another run in the top of the third inning on another Anderson RBI single to left field.
Worcester State got on the board in the bottom of the third inning. Andrew LeBlanc (Leominster, Mass.) and Brett Blackwell (Haverhill, Mass.) both had RBI singles and Mike Mabee, Jr (Saugus, Mass.) doubled home the third Lancer run to knot the game at, 3-3.
The Lancers took the lead in the bottom of the 5th pushing across three runs for the, 6-3, advantage. Trent Balian (Lynnfield, Mass.) singled through the left field to plate LeBlanc and Alex Sorenti-Burns (Sagamore Beach, Mass.) doubled to deep center to knock in two more runs.
The Engineers shaved the lead to, 6-5 with a pair of 6th inning runs.
The big blow for MIT in the decisive frame was a 2-out, bases clearing triple to center by sophomore Kennan Gumbs (New York, N.Y.) pushing across three unearned runs to give the Engineers the final, 9-6, margin.
Offensively, Mabee and Balian both had two hits apiece for Worcester State. MIT's Anderson had a huge day going 4 for 5. Four other Engineers had two hits on the day.
Matthew Nay (Roswell, Ga.) got the win in relief for the Engineers. Junior Brett Bucklin (Lynn, Mass.) took the loss for the Lancers.
Worcester State returns to action on Friday when they head to Buzzards Bay to take on Massachusetts State Collegiate foe Mass Maritime for the first game in their final conference series of the regular season. MIT heads into postseason play on Thursday when they travel to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy for a NEWMAC first round game against the Bears.