Baseball beats Springfield
Engineers deliver a shutout in doubleheader
Starter Torre M. Swanson ’12 pitched a masterful, complete-game shutout as the Engineers dispatched the Springfield College Pride, 10-0, in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader at MIT. Given plenty of baserunners due to the erratic pitching of Springfield starter Greg Marakovits, the Engineers seized every opportunity in building an early lead for Swanson. Leading 2-0 headed into the bottom of the third inning, the Engineers combined two hits with three walks and a hit batsman to produce four runs, advancing runners on both wild pitches thrown during the inning. The six-run deficit put the game out of reach for Springfield as Swanson retired 14 straight batters to start the game. Swanson’s perfect effort was finally broken up when Pride catcher Matt Milano doubled in the bottom of the fifth. With two outs in the top of the seventh and a 10-0 lead, Swanson nearly lost the shut-out when Milano hit a hard shot down the right field line with designated hitter Karl Quist on first base. However, the ball was ruled out of play and Milano was held to a double. Swanson shut the door on Springfield and preserved the shut out with his third strikeout of the day.
In the ensuing nine-inning contest, MIT starter Chris M. Hendrix ’12 picked up where Swanson had left off in the first game, keeping the Pride hitless through the first three innings. However, the Springfield pitchers answered the challenge in the second game. Starter Alex Williams turned in a remarkable, seven-inning effort, scattering four hits over seven innings of work and, most crucially, giving up no walks to the Engineers’ patient offense. Facing a 1-0 deficit in the eighth with Williams out of the game, the Engineers went to work against reliever Craig Zysk. With Adam J. Hansborough ’12 on third, Reid Bishop doubled in the tying run. Zysk limited the damage for Springfield, however, as Bishop was caught in a rundown on the ensuing at-bat. A sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth inning from Springfield’s Milano brought in the eventual game-winning run for the Pride. Zysk preserved the 2-1 lead in the ninth for the win.
The Engineers now stand at 3-9 in conference play heading into an important stretch of games before the NEWMAC tournament at the end of April. After a matchup with Endicott College on Monday, the Engineers will prepare for a crucial home-and-away series against conference foe Clark University next weekend.