MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME BASEBALL

2016 ECAC New England Semifinals

Saturday, May 14, 2016

O’Brien Field, Cambridge, Mass.

FINAL:              MIT 7, MASSACHUSETTS MARITIME 1

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. --  Junior left hander David Hesslink (San Diego, Calif.) tossed a complete-game seven-hitter and struck out seven to lead top-seeded MIT to a 7-1 victory over fourth-seeded Massachusetts Maritime in semifinal round action of the 2016 ECAC Division III New England Baseball Championships played Saturday afternoon at O’Brien Field.

The host Engineers, who improve to 22-14 overall on the season, will take on second-seeded WPI (27-13) for the ECAC New England title on Sunday afternoon at O’Brien Field beginning at Noon.  The visiting Buccaneers conclude the season at 24-16 overall under first-year Head Coach Mike Kelley, as the win total is the third highest single-season mark in school history.

MIT gave Hesslink the only runs he would need in its first at-bat of the contest, as following a single by sophomore Garrett Greenwood (Edmond, Okla.) and a double down the left field line by sophomore Austin Filiere (Chandler, Ariz.), senior Alec Echevarria (Chula Vista, Calif.) grounded a two-run single through the right side.  Senior Nate Rodman’s (Corvallis, Ore.) single put runners at the corners, and Echevarria capped the Engineer outburst by scoring on a wild pitch.  Massachusetts Maritime plated its lone run of the contest in the top of the third, as senior Everett Walsh (Marstons Mills, Mass.) and sophomore Logan Sullo (Acushnet, Mass.) led off the frame with singles and advanced on a one-out wild pitch.  Junior Jake Petruzzelli (Abington, Mass.) lofted a sacrifice fly to right that scored Walsh, but MIT got that run back in the fourth when Greenwood reached on an error and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Rodman.

The Engineers iced their triumph with a three-run fifth inning rally, as a walk, error and hit batsman loaded the bases for Greenwood, whose sacrifice fly to center plated sophomore David Heller (Fair Lawn, N.J.).  Filere accounted for the final two runs of the day for the hosts with a two-run double to center, and Hesslink took care of the rest on the mound for MIT, as he worked around two walks and threw 79 of his 119 pitches for strikes to improve to 7-2 on the season.

Filere rapped out four of the Engineers’ 13 hits on the afternoon, as Rodman and freshman Jared Schwait (Boca Raton, Fla.) collected two hits each for the winners.  Walsh and Sullo each had two hits as part of the Buccaneers’ seven-hit attack, as sophomores Connor Kennedy (West Barnstable, Mass.), Casey Furnas (Boca Raton, Fla.) and Billy Keane (Braintree, Mass.) also singled for the visitors.  Junior Daniel Avery (Milford, Mass.) allowed three earned runs and fanned two in four innings of work for Massachusetts Maritime, as he fell to 5-3 with the setback.

BUCCANEER BLOG:  Massachusetts Maritime advanced to the ECAC New England semifinals for the second straight season, as the Buccaneers fell to Salve Regina in the 2015 tournament...Massachusetts Maritime’s 24 wins rank behind only the 1982 MASCAC & ECAC champion squad’s school-record total of 28 and the 1980 team’s 25 triumphs...Sullo, the two-time reigning MASCAC Player of the Year, enters his junior season just 15 hits shy of the 100-career mark, as he has collected 85 hits (36 for extra bases) in 198 official at-bats in 63 career games played...Today’s contest marked the first meeting between the Buccaneers and Engineers since a 15-2 Massachusetts Maritime victory during the 1982 campaign.  MIT now holds a 5-2 advantage in the all-time series between the two schools...Today’s game was the 14^th ECAC post-season outing in Buccaneer history...MIT swept both regular season meetings with NEWMAC rival WPI, scoring a combined 33 runs in the battle of Engineers.