GAME OF THE WEEK Nunez Drives in Four As Baseball Extends Winning Streak to Four
Steven M. Nunez ’09 came off the bench to drive in four runs including a base-clearing triple in the fifth inning, as MIT earned the fourth of five consecutive victories with a 9-4 victory over Springfield College at Briggs Field on Tuesday. Rookie pitcher Christopher L. Vaughan ’12 enjoyed his best outing of the campaign after giving up one earned run in 7.1 innings of work while notching his second career win.
Brian P. Doyle ’11 was the first to light the board for MIT with a one-out single to left field in the second. David M. Nole ’09, who singled through the right side to start the frame, scored to give the Engineers a 1-0 lead.
The Pride jumped on top in the third as John Schmaltz rocked a two-run homerun to right field. A one-out error extended the inning for Springfield, and despite another miscue after the homerun, MIT escaped the rest of the stanza unscathed. The hot corner (third base) proved to be a sore spot for Tech’s defense on Tuesday as the Pride added an unearned run in the top of the fifth to move in front, 3-1. Two players combined to commit four errors at third, although the damage was minimal as Vaughan pitched out of the trouble.
Creed J. Mangrum ’12 sparked a six-run fifth for the Engineers with a one-out bunt single. MIT drew three walks in four at bats to reduce the deficit to 3-2, while Nunez drilled a line drive to deep center field to clear the bases and push the Engineers in front for good.
The Pride responded with another unearned run in the sixth as Luke Gabordi scored on a nicely-executed 4-6-3 double play. Despite inching a little closer, Nunez singled home another score for MIT in the seventh before stealing home to cap the scoring.
Vaughan had three strikeouts and scattered eight hits en route to the win, while Stephen C. Toth ’09 was nearly flawless in relief.
Ryan White shouldered the loss for Springfield after yielding seven earned runs in 4.2 innings on the mound.