MIT men’s baseball crushes Wheaton
Cornwell ’15 drives in six runs to help MIT secure a 12-4 victory
Hayden Cornwell ’15 belted a three-run home run and went on to drive in six runs in the game to help MIT overcome and early deficit and score a 12-4 victory over Wheaton College in New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) baseball action. The win pulled the Engineers to just a half game behind the Lyons in the NEWMAC East Division standings.
Cornwell put MIT (15-8, 11-3 NEWMAC) on the board first in the top of the first, driving a pitch back up the middle with two down to score John Drago ’17, who had led off the inning with a single. It did not take long for Wheaton (19-8, 12-3 NEWMAC) to answer, as the Lyons pushed across four runs in the second. Senior Apolinar De La Cruz led off the inning with a home run to tie the game. With two down the Lyons picked up a single and a pair of walks to load the bases before senior Zach Bombard singled through the right side to score a pair. Junior Jimmy Smith then snuck home from third when Bombard stole second to make it 4-1.
MIT immediately answered in the third, with Austin Filiere ’18 and Parker Tew ’15 starting the inning with a double and single, with Cornwell bringing them around to score when he deposited a pitch over the fence in center to tie the game. Two more hits and a sacrifice put runners on second and third for Kendall Helbert ’16, whose groundout to short plated another run to put the Engineers on top, 5-4.
After giving up the four runs in the second, MIT starter, Alan Wang ’16, kept the Lyons off the board as he gave up just four more hits over his seven innings on the mound. He picked up the victory and wound up giving up a total of seven hits and the four runs while striking out three and walking three. Michael Wymer ’16 tossed the final two innings for MIT, allowing just a pair of hits while striking out one.
MIT gave itself some breathing room in the sixth, scoring twice with two down. Two hit batters started the rally, with Tew bringing around the first run with and RBI single and Cornwell finishing the rally with a double down the line in left. The Engineers put the game away in the eighth when Filiere slammed a two-run home run before Tew scored an unearned run on an error. Filiere and Cornwell added to their RBI totals in the ninth, with a sac fly and an RBI single respectively.
Cornwell wound up with a 4-for-6 day with a home run and a double along with the six RBI. Filiere drove in three, going 2-for-4, while Tew compiled a 4-for-5 day with an RBI and two runs scored. Drago scored four times for the Engineers, going 3-for-5 on the afternoon. De La Cruz, Bombard and Smith all had a pair of hits for Wheaton, with Bombard driving in a pair.