WPI 17, MIT 1

Box Score

Worcester, MA --- Senior starting pitcher Conor Fahey (Cumberland, RI) went eight strong innings, allowing only three hits and striking out eight, as the WPI Engineers defeated the MIT Engineers 17-1 in NEWMAC baseball action on Thursday in Worcester. Five WPI hitters hit home runs, with Mitch McClune (Pembroke, MA) and Jameson Kokolis (Manchester, NH) each with a three-run homer on the day. With the win, WPI improves to 17-9 and 6-3 in the NEWMAC, while MIT drops to 11-8, 2-4 in conference play.

Fahey improved to 3-1 on the season, lowering his ERA to a team-best 1.94 in the process. Fahey, a two-time NEWMAC Pitcher of the Week this season, has an impressive 59 Ks in 47 innings pitched, also best on the club.

WPI got on the board in the first inning to take an early advantage. Shortstop Paul Galligan (Weymouth, MA) reached on a one-out single to center and came around to score on two wild pitches to give the home club a 1-0 lead. MIT tied the score in its half of the third, as David Nole (Torrington, CT) reached on an error and moved to third on a Dan Hyatt (Wallingford, CT) base hit to right. Nole scored on an RBI groundout off the bat of Bryan Macomber (Los Altos, CA) to knot the score at 1-1.

The Crimson and Gray responded in the home half however, regaining the lead with a three-run inning. Mark Dignum (Albany, NY) singled with one out and Galligan followed with a double down the right-field line to set WPI up with two runners in scoring position. McClune then came through for the hosts, launching a three-run shot to right-center that gave WPI a 4-1 edge, his fourth home run of the season.

WPI scored a single run in the fourth inning to add to the lead before exploding for nine more in the fifth to break the game wide open. McClune doubled to lead off the inning, with McNee reaching on a hit-by-pitch. The two pulled off a double steal before Nick Bean (Middleboro, MA) singled McClune home. Back-to-back wild pitches to DH Mike Swanton (Foxboro, MA) scored McNee to make the game 7-1. Swanton would walk in the at-bat to set up Kokolis, who sent his fourth home run of the season over the fence in right-center to give WPI a 10-1 lead. Following a pitching change for MIT, Joe Walsh (Weymouth, MA) singled and Galligan was hit by a pitch. McClune then laced his second extra-base hit of the inning, a bases-clearing triple, to make the game 12-1. McNee then homered over the fence in left, his team-leading fifth long ball of the year, to give WPI a 14-1 lead.

John Flynn (Albion, ME) and Ryan Brown (Worcester, MA) later homered for WPI, for the first time this season that the Engineers have hit five home runs in a game. McClune fell just a single short of the cycle, going 3-for-5 with 5 RBI to lead WPI. Kokolis was 2-for-3 with 3 RBI and two runs, while Galligan had two hits and three runs scored for the victors. Nole and Hyatt as well as Ryne Barry (Phoenix, AZ) and Thomas Phillips (Durham, NC) each had base hits for MIT. Chris Vaughan (Fort Worth, TX) went the first four innings on the hill for MIT, suffering the loss to fall to 1-4 on the season.

WPI is back in action on Saturday, when it will face Framingham State in an out-of-conference doubleheader at home. Game time is at noon. MIT is also off until Saturday at noon, when it will try to rebound against Coast Guard in a NEWMAC doubleheader at home.

Story by Ray Cotrufo '98 - WPI Sports Information