Western New England Falls to MIT in Non-Conference Action, 15-3

Valeriano & Minuskin record RBI singles for Golden Bears

HARTFORD, Conn. (March 27, 2017) – The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) baseball team broke out for nine runs in the fifth inning on its way to a 15-3 victory over Western New England University this evening in non-conference action at Murren Family Field on the campus of Trinity College.

Top Performers
• Sophomore Brian Valeriano (Stratford, Conn.) and freshman Josh Minuskin (Easton, Mass.) recorded one hit and one RBI each for the Golden Bears, while sophomore Joe Cassella (Wallingford, Conn.) and freshman Kevin Johnson (Waterford, Conn.) also posted 1-for-2 efforts with a walk and one run scored.

• Juniors Garrett Greenwood (Edmond, Okla.) and Austin Filiere (Chandler, Ariz.) led the MIT offense, as Greenwood went 3-for-5 at the plate with two doubles and five RBI, and Filiere finished 2-for-3 with three walks and an RBI triple.

Game Review
• MIT opened the scoring in the top of the fourth, when junior Max Lancaster (Attleboro, Mass.) reached base to lead off the inning before stealing second and eventually coming around to score on an RBI single by junior David Heller (Fair Lawn, N.J.).
• The Golden Bears pulled ahead with two runs in the bottom half of the inning. After MIT starting pitcher Patrick Callahan (Vicksburg, Mich.) issued three consecutive walks to start the frame, Cassella grounded into a double play, scoring sophomore Ben LaCroix (Branford, Conn.). Valeriano came up next and beat out an infield single, allowing Johnson to score from third as Western New England claimed a 2-1 edge.
• MIT broke the game open with nine runs in the top of the fifth, however. Filiere got it started with a one-out RBI triple down the right field line, tying the score at 2-2. After Western New England sophomore Sean Halligan (North Branford, Conn.) struck out the following batter for the second out of the inning, the next nine Engineers to come to the plate reached base as MIT opened up a 10-2 lead.
• MIT added five more runs in the sixth, three of which scored on Greenwood's bases-clearing double to left field.
• Minuskin recorded an RBI single in the bottom of the sixth, capping the scoring in the contest.

Notes
• Western New England senior right-hander Jason Montanaro (North Kingstown, R.I.) made his first appearance since 2015, as he came on in relief in the top of the sixth and allowed one hit with two strikeouts over 2.0 innings of work.
• The two teams used a combined 11 pitchers.

Up Next
Western New England (8-5) will look to bounce back on Thursday at UMass Boston, while MIT (6-3) travels to Endicott.